
Class ^Jriia^LL 
Book AAAI.^ 



GmM^"^ 



COFmiGHT DEPOSm 



< -/• '( 



BERMUDA 
PAST AND PRESENT 



\ 



BERMUDA 

PAST AND PRESENT 

A DESCRIPTIVE AND HISTORICAL ACCOUNT 
OF THE SOMERS ISLANDS 

BY 

WALTER BROWNELL HAYWARD 

WITH ILLUSTRATIONS AND A MAP 



No, ne'er did the wave in its element steep 
An island of lovelier charms. 

Thomas Moobb 




NEW YORK 

DODD, MEAD & COMPANY 

1910 






Copyright^ 1910 
By Dodd, Mead and Compakt 

Published September, 1910 



ID-^ldHd 



THE UNIVERSITY PRESS, CAMBRIDGE, U. S. A. 



©CI.A271709 



TO 
MY FATHER 



PREFACE 

It is believed that this book is sufficiently com- 
prehensive to serve as a valuable guide to the 
Bermudas, now such a popular resort for Ameri- 
can travellers who desire to exchange the rigours 
of our northern winter for blue skies and a balmy 
atmosphere. All points of interest, picturesque, 
historical, legendary, have received ample atten- 
tion, while the reader is brought into contact with 
the characteristic pleasures of Bermuda life, the 
government and resources. In narrating the story 
of Bermuda's development from a proprietary set- 
tlement founded by the Virginia Company to a 
progressive colony with sound institutions, self- 
government and strong individuality, emphasis 
has been laid upon events which reveal the close 
historical bond existing between the islands and 
the United States. Heretofore this community 
of interest has received scant treatment from 
writers, much to the regret of American visitors; 
indeed, all the dramatic incidents of Bermuda's 
part in the Civil War have been totally neglected, 
possibly because they are hidden in long-forgotten 
documents and personal narratives. It is hoped 
that repetition of some of these historic events 



viii PREFACE 

will stimulate interest among Bermudians with re- 
gard to matters which were stern reahties to the 
fathers and grandfathers of the present generation. 
The author has freely consulted Lefroy's " Me- 
morials " ; Williams's " History of Bermuda " ; 
" The Bermuda Islands," by Addison E. Verrill 
of Yale University ; George Watson Cole's " Ber- 
muda in Periodical Literature," a bibliography; 
" Official Records of the Union and Confederate 
Navies in the War of the Rebellion," diplomatic 
correspondence of the period, and other docu- 
ments issued by the governments of the United 
States and Bermuda. To many Bermudians, 
notably the Honourable Joseph Ming Hayward 
of St. George's, and Mr. Thomas M. Dill, M.C.P. 
of Devonshire, is the author indebted for valuable 
facts and the elucidation of obscure points. The 
photographs are by Weiss & Co. and N. E. 
Lusher & Sun of Bermuda, and Mr. George M. 
Boardman of New York. 



Introduction 



CONTENTS 

CHAPTER I 



CHAPTER n 



Discovery in 1515 — Islands reputed to be an abode of evil 
spirits — Their neglect by mariners — Wreck of Henry 
May 6 

CHAPTER m 

Wreck of Sir George Somers and the Virginia colonists — 
They build two ships and continue their journey after a 
sojourn of nine months — They find the settlement at 
Jamestown starving — Somers retmns to Bermuda for pro- 
visions and dies there 11 

CHAPTER IV 

First settlers sent out by the Virginia Company — They find 
the "three kings" in charge — Bermuda Company assumes 
control — Tobacco the only medium of exchange — PoUtical 
and ecclesiastical struggles — Rebellion against the Com- 
monwealth — Witchcraft — The company dissolved ... 21 

CHAPTER V 

Colony under the Crown — Bermudians neglect agriculture 
and engage in the salt trade at Turk's Island, becoming the 
principal carriers for the American provinces — Outbreak of 
American Revolution causes prohibition of trade — People 
face starvation and appeal to the Continental Congress for 
aid — Their powder magazine depleted by an American ex- 
pedition — Correspondence of George Washington — His 
address to the Bermudians — Congress rewards them — 
American plans for capture of the Islands 32 

CHAPTER VI 

Bermuda as a naval base in the War of 1812 — Islanders lose 
many vessels — Prizes brought in — Shipping trade re- 
vives, then declines — Slavery abolished — Convicts sent 
out from England to build fortifications 58 



CONTENTS 



CHAPTER VII 

Bermuda's part in the Civil War — Colony swarms with seces- 
sionists and becomes an entrepot for those who ran the 
blockade — Differences between the Governor and Ad- 
miral Wilkes, U. S. N. — Latter blockades the islands — 
Types of blockade runners and the way the business was 
conducted — British naval officers in the business — Ex- 
ploits of the Confederate Wilkinson — Beginning of the 
end — Braine and the Roanoke — The yellow fever cloth- 
ing episode 72 

CHAPTER VHI 

Origin of the Bermuda group — Climate and characteristics — 
The opalescent water, the sea gardens and their denizens — 
A country of flowers and sub-tropical vegetation — Lily 
fields and oleander hedges 103 

CHAPTER rX 

Literary associations — The "still-vexed Bermoothes" of 
Shakespeare's "Tempest" — Waller and Andrew Marvel 

— Tom Moore a resident — His descriptive verses and 
romance — Anthony Trollope's visit — Visits of Mark 
Twain, WiUiam Dean Howells and Charles Dudley Warner 

— Father Tabb a blockade runner 116 

CHAPTER X 
Detailed description of Bermuda by parishes, including his- 
toric points, towns, caves, etc 135 

CHAPTER XI 
Sports and recreations described xmder the title "Bermuda 
Diversions" ,• 184 

CHAPTER Xn 

Method of government — Electoral qualifications and the • 
Colonial ParKament — A country that exists without gen- 
eral taxation — Development of the judicial system . . . 204 

CHAPTER Xin 

Resources of the colony — Agriculture the sole industry — 
The tourist traflic — Possibilities of the coaling trade . . . 217 

Useful Facts fob the Traveller . 231 

Index 237 



ILLUSTRATIONS 

Royal Palms at Hamilton Frontispiece 

Facing Page 

White Sand and Limpid Water 4 

Ribbon of Road near the Causeway .... 4 

A Bermuda Cottage 28 

Natural Arch at Tucker's Town ..... 42 

St. Peter's Churchyard 62 

Churning Breakers on the South Shore ... 68 

Town of St. George's . 80 

Boilers or Coral Atolls 104 

A Field of Easter Lilies 110 

A Stone Quarry • . 114 

Walsingham House 128 

Cathedral or Temple Rocks . 136 

View from Gibb's Hill Lighthouse .... 140 

City of Hamilton 144 

The Cathedral, Hamilton 148 

Old Devonshire Church 158 

Fishes in the Devil's Hole 162 

Stalactites in the Crystal Cave 166 

Street in St. George's 170 



^flrfMl-^" • 



xii ILLUSTRATIONS 

Facing Page 

View from St. David's Lighthouse .... 178 

Ruined Fortifications on Castle Island . . . 182 

A Bermuda Dinghy 192 

Road Cut through a Hill 210 

Screw Pine, Public Garden, St. George's . . 226 

Map of Bermuda Page 230 



CHAPTER I 

INTRODUCTION 

You sail from New York in a southeasterly direc- 
tion, traverse the warm and restless Gulf Stream, 
and in two days reach that spot in the North 
Atlantic where 

" The remote Bermudas ride 
In Ocean's bosom unespied." 

You are prepared for a creation in miniature 
if by chance some one has told you that the Ber- 
mudas were reared by coral insects and the winds 
upon the peak of a submarine mountain, and in 
truth you find a tiny oasis, a clump of refreshing 
green, in a waste of shimmering water. And it 
seems, after due reflection, that Nature in her 
infinite goodness must have set these islands apart 
as a way-station for distressed mariners and 
clothed them in pleasing garb for the benefit 
of the traveller whose mind and eyes seek new 
perspectives. 

Andrew Marvel chose a singularly appropriate 
phrase when he wrote in bygone days of the " re- 
mote Bermudas." Seven hundred nautical miles 
separate them from their chief neighbour, New 



2 BERMUDA PAST AND PRESENT 

York; six hundred and twenty-five miles they lie 
from Cape Hatteras, the nearest point of the 
North American continent. Few islands are more 
supremely isolated, but their remoteness from 
other land is counterbalanced by their proximity 
to important trade routes, and so they constitute 
in the scheme of geographical distribution a haven 
of refuge, a place for ships to refit and coal, and 
for men to rest, after a struggle in heavy weather. 

Bermuda, to use the shorter term, calls to the 
deep, and its call extends also to shores whence 
men sail for pleasure. It has much that is quaint 
and beautiful to offer them. An archipelago of 
a hundred odd islands and rocks — less than 
twenty square miles in all — standing amid clear 
water of exquisite hues ; a place of fair skies and 
sunshine and flowers, blessed with an equable and 
salubrious climate, untouched by fog or frost, 
and wholly free from tropical fevers — such in 
brief is Bermuda. On shore fairy-like scenery, 
caves of crystal, limestone roads white as bleached 
linen, curious trees and shrubs ; in the water, 
gardens as luxuriant as those which take their 
life from the soil, and a host of fishes, all coloured 
to correspond with the submarine growth which 
gives them food and a home. 

Nature has given Bermuda a wealth of varied 
pictures and enhanced their charm by a setting 



INTRODUCTION 3 

of repose. One cannot fail to be impressed by this 
distinctive characteristic. You leave ice, snow, 
dirt, noise, bustle, the glitter of wealth, the sor- 
didness of poverty, all the elements that combine 
to make the fascinating yet wearisome turmoil of 
New York, the Western metropolis, and in forty- 
eight hours find yourself in a pure and balmy 
atmosphere, a silent restful land, where modern 
progress has yet to remove the rust of antiquity 
and obliterate ideas of old-fashioned simplicity. 

The contrast does not end here. In Bermuda 
the effort to live is not hurried; you eat, drink, 
take your pleasure and perform your daily task 
in a normal manner. No factory whistles awaken 
you each morning, no chimneys pollute the air 
with pungent smoke; you do not run to catch 
trains or street cars for the reason that Bermuda 
has not adopted these symbols of high civilisa- 
tion. Therefore you are bound to move delib- 
erately, however rebellious your northern blood 
may be at first; but in the warm sunhght there 
are seductive germs of indolence, and to these 
you succumb. And it is better so, for, hav- 
ing succumbed, you assimilate Bermuda's worth 
and, incidentally, let its reposeful atmosphere as- 
similate you. 

It is therefore not difficult to understand why 
the. colony is recommended especially to the person 



4 BERMUDA PAST AND PRESENT 

who is tired and nervous, run down in body and 
mind. Its tranquillity is soothing, and further- 
more it is remarkably free from repellent blem- 
ishes. That is to say, Bermuda does not offend 
the senses. It looks prosperous, — well groomed, 
so to speak, — and its people seem contented. You 
may travel through each of the nine parishes and 
fail to observe a single case of distressing pov- 
erty; neither will evidence of great wealth be 
apparent. Extremes rarely meet in Bermuda. Let 
it be said to the credit of this British colony, now 
three centuries old, that its poorest children are 
not ill-fed; that its humblest inhabitants do not 
live in filth and degradation, such as we of the 
cities know; and that even in homes where the 
absence of money is felt most keenly, the hand of 
hospitality is extended to the stranger. 

Because it is genuine, native hospitality is per- 
haps the colony's most wholesome social asset. 
The American visitor especially feels its influ- 
ence, but let him not gain the impression that 
the welcome he receives is actuated by the dollars 
which will fall from his pocket. No, his welcome 
has a deeper significance, to understand which he 
must turn back the pages of history and read 
of the days when Bermudians and Ajnericans 
alike, all of the same blood, were struggling for 
a foothold on unfamiliar soil. 



INTRODUCTION 5 

When one co-ordinates and balances Bermuda's 
enchantments he finds them sufficient for all. To 
the health-seeker are given bright surroundings 
and a genial climate; to the holiday maker the 
pleasures of life in the open ; the artist lives among 
a wealth of suggestive material; botanist, zoolo- 
gist, and biologist in a natural treasure house; 
while before the geologist lies an open book of 
rock, telling its tale in stratification and fossihsed 
remains. And even the philosopher will find in- 
terest in tracing reasons for the spirit of content- 
ment which distinguishes this little community. 



CHAPTER II 

DISCOVERY 

One cannot fail to observe in Bermuda a wider 
reflection of English life than is presented in the 
average British colony, and one does not seek 
far for the reason. Of pure English stock, the 
first settlers were obliged only to accommodate 
themselves to strange conditions and climate. 
Neither they nor their descendants were com- 
pelled by force of circumstance to depart from 
English ideals and customs, or to share their 
island home with alien races. Bermuda, in fact, 
has always been under British rule; never for a 
day has another flag waved over its fortifications; 
as an emblem of dominance. 

Though England's control proved irksome and 
often tyrannical, particularly when the islands 
were exploited by a company of adventurers, only 
a few of the colonists found it desirable to seek 
a more congenial land. So the Bermuda of 
to-day is composed largely of families bearing the 
pioneer names, and each has its traditions, which 
form a part of the colony's history. 

Because Bermuda never passed from flag to 
flag, like many islands of the West Indies, its 



DISCOVERY 7 

history can offer no tales of the old sea-fighters 
who roved the Caribbean in a malevolent manner 
and never lost an opportunity to loose their guns. 
Nevertheless, there is a certain element of romance 
in the discovery of the islands and their subse- 
quent neglect by the superstitious mariners who 
constantly passed and repassed them yet failed 
to land. 

Bermuda's name is taken from Juan de Ber- 
mudez, a Spaniard, who anchored his ship. La 
Garza (the Heron), within gunshot of the land 
in the year 1515. It is possible that he may have 
discovered the islands on a previous voyage, for 
they appear on a map published by Peter Martyr 
in 1511. Bermudez was carrying home to Spain 
Gonzales Ferdinando d' Oviedo, a distinguished 
historian, who wrote a brief account of his visit, 
the earliest description extant. He speaks of the 
" Island Bermuda, otherwise called Garza," as the 
furthest of all " that are found at this day in the 
world," but fails to indicate whether Bermudez 
had touched there before. Foul weather pre- 
vented Oviedo from landing hogs and exploring 
the islands as he had intended, and he sailed away 
with vivid recollections of the strange antics of 
myriads of seabirds, which found pleasure and 
food in the chase of flying fishes. 

Not until 1527 was a plan evolved for the 



8 BERMUDA PAST AND PRESENT 

settlement of the islands. In that year Her- 
nando Camelo, a Portuguese, received a commis- 
sion from King Philip of Spain to found a colony, 
but there is no evidence to show that he made use 
of his grant. Possibly Camelo was deterred by 
imaginary tales of evil which even then may have 
circulated regarding the islands. It is certain that 
such sailor's yarns — they were nothing more — < 
passed from mouth to mouth in later years. In 
substance, they depicted Bermuda as an enchanted 
place, inhabited only by the spirits of darkness ; 
a land visited frequently by tempests, thunder, 
and lightning, and bordered by hidden rocks, to 
approach which invited destruction. Thus it was 
that commanders of homeward-bound Spanish gal- 
leons gave the islands a wide berth, even though 
they followed the Gulf Stream to their latitude 
before laying an easterly course. 

These fables of supernatural inhabitants may 
have been concocted by buccaneers who possibly 
desired an undisturbed retreat on the Isles of the 
Devil, as Bermuda was popularly called, or they 
may have originated on account of disasters. 
At all events, the remnants of wrecks were ob- 
served when man settled in Bermuda, and there 
remains one mute token of an ancient inhabitant 
— probably a castaway — in Smith's Parish, on 
the south shore, where, graven on Spanish Rock, 



DISCOVERY 9 

are tHe mutilated initials F. T., followed by a 
cross and the date 1543. Local historians have 
attempted without success to connect this mono- 
gram with Camelo's name, but there is no reason 
to doubt the antiquity of the relic. 

The cross on Spanish Rock — a warning against 
evil spirits it appears to have been — illustrates 
the terror which had sunk into the hearts of sea- 
farers. Years passed, and although the Spaniards 
appreciated the value of Bermuda, the old super- 
stitions held them at a distance. They did not 
fear to cross arms with men, but unseen wraiths 
were dangerous enemies. None cared to penetrate 
the veil of mystery which enshrouded the islands, 
and they remained in obscurity until Henry May, 
an Englishman, was cast away upon the reefs in 
1593. 

May was a passenger on board a French ves- 
sel commanded by M. de la Barbotlere, who left 
Laguna, in Hispaniola, on November 30. Seven- 
teen days later the pilots congratulated them- 
selves on being out of danger, so far as Bermuda 
was concerned, and demanded their " wine of 
height " — a tipple given when a safe latitude was 
reached. They drank long and deep, discipline 
was relaxed, and at midnight the ship struck. 
Out of a company of fifty-odd men only twenty- 
six reached shore by boat and raft. May and the 
captain being among the survivors. 



10 BERMUDA PAST AND PRESENT 

The future activities of these men furnish an 
example of the ingenuity of sailors of their day. 
They saved carpenter's tools and tackle from the 
wreck, cut down cedar trees, sawed out planks, 
and built a seaworthy craft of eighteen tons, 
caulking her seams with a mixture of lime and 
turtle's oil, which hardened hke cement. Fish, 
birds, turtles, and rain water sustained them, and 
they might have taken wild hogs had they so de- 
sired, for they saw many during their sojourn. 

On May 11, 1594, the party set sail, arriving 
at Cape Breton in nine days. About two months 
later May landed in England to recount his ex- 
periences. By a singular coincidence the feat in 
which he participated was to be duplicated several 
years afterward by a party of his own country- 
men; in the meantime Bermuda was to remain 
a habitation for seabirds and swine. 



CHAPTER III 

ROMANCE OF THE SEA VENTXTRE 

Cross the Market Square of quaint old St. George's 
Town and turn the comer into Kent Street — it 
is merely a step to the Public Gardens. Just 
within the gate, on the left wall, is affixed a tablet 
commemorating a man described by Fuller as " a 
lamb on land, so patient that few could anger 
him, and (as if entering a ship he had assumed 
a new nature) a lion at sea so passionate that 
few could please him." The inscription reads: 

Near this Spot 

was interred in the year 1610 

THE Heart of the Heroic Admiral 

SIR GEORGE SOMERS, Kt., 

WHO NOBLY SACRIFICED HIS LIFE 
TO CARRY SUCCOUR 
TO THE INFANT AND SUFFERING PLANTATION 
NOW 

THE State of Virginia. 

To PRESERVE his FAME TO FUTURE AGES, 

Near the scene of his Memorable 
Shipwreck of 1609, 



U BERMUDA PAST AND PRESENT 

THE Governor and Commander-in-Chief 
OF THIS Colony for the time being. 
Caused this Tablet to be erected, 
1876.^ 

Such is the brief record of an unselfish deed. 
It is a becoming memorial, for the Admiral was 
a modest sailor. His personal narrative is a 
straightforward statement of fact without colour 
or suggestion of vainglory, but others have pre- 
served what Sir George Somers suppressed, and 
for detailed accounts of his resourcefulness in 
time of danger and after one must turn to the 
writings of William Strachy, Silvanus Jordan, 
and the famous John Smith, early historian of 
Virginia and Bermuda. 

It was on June 2, 1609, that seven ships and 
two pinnaces, each having on board a goodly 
company of adventurers, sailed out of Plymouth 
Sound and laid a course for Virginia, the " infant 
plantation." The ship Sea Venture flew the flag 
of Sir George Somers, or Summers, as William 
Strachy, one of the members of the party, calls 
him, " a gentleman of approved assuredness and 

^ The late Major General J. H. Lefroy, R.A., C.B.. F.R.S., 
honorary member of the New York Historical Society, whose 
" Memorials of the Bermudas " and other works are a monu- 
ment to his devotion to the colony's interests and to his ability 
as a conscientious historian. 



ROMANCE OF THE SEA VENTURE 13 

ready knowledge in seafaring actions," and with the 
Admiral were Captain Newport and Sir Thomas 
Gates, the latter to act as Deputy Governor under 
Lord De La Warr. The fleet kept together until 
the twenty-third of July, when a gale sprang up 
and the pinnace which the Sea Venture had in tow 
was cast loose. By morning, a Monday, the ships 
had scattered, and the Sea Venture was fighting 
her lonely way through a West Indian hurricane. 

" Winds and seas were as mad as fury and rage 
could make them," writes Strachy. " Our clamours 
were drowned in the winds and the winds in thun- 
der. The sea swelled above the clouds and gave 
battle unto heaven. It could not be said to rain ; 
the waters like whole rivers did flood the air." 

The working of the seas caused the Sea Venture 
to leak seriously, and soon she had nine feet of 
water in her hold. Sir George Somers took his 
station on the poop to advise the steersman and 
hold the vessel true to her course, while Sir 
Thomas Gates directed the efforts of passengers 
arid crew. They thrust pieces of beef into the 
open seams in a vain attempt to check the inrush 
of water; they bailed, pumped, jettisoned cargo, 
ordnance, and luggage. Their galley fires went 
out; their water casks were awash; for three 
days and three nights the men laboured incessantly 
without food or sleep, the Sea Venture plunging 



14 BERMUDA PAST AND PRESENT 

forward under bare spars and always settling 
deeper. Once a huge wave swept her decks and 
she faltered, apparently about to founder, but, 
recovering, she laboured onward, a battered wraith 
of a ship, with timbers strained beyond measure. 

On the night of Thursday St. Elmo's Fire 
made its appearance, " like a faint star," says 
Strachy, " trembling and streaming along with 
a sparkling blaze, half the height upon the main- 
mast, and shooting sometimes from shroud to 
shroud. At which. Sir George Somers called 
divers about him and showed them the same, who 
observed it with much wonder and carefulness; 
but upon a sudden, towards the morning, they 
lost sight of it and knew not what way it made." 

That was their last night of suffering. Early 
next day, July 28, when the end seemed only a 
matter of hours. Sir George Somers, who had 
never left his post, descried land a few miles 
distant. The ship was worked into shallow 
water and lodged between two shoals, her re- 
puted resting-place appearing on the charts of 
to-day as Sea Venture Flat. Sunset saw the 
whole company of one hundred and forty men 
and women on the shores of the thickly-wooded 
island that was subsequently to bear the name 
St. George's. Speaking of this event, an anony- 
mous writer says: 



ROMANCE OF THE SEA VENTURE 15 

" These islands of the Bermudas have ever been 
accounted an enchanted pile of rocks, and a desert 
habitation for devils ; but all the fairies of the 
rocks were but flocks of birds, and all the devils 
that haunted the woods were but herds of swine. 
Our people in the Bermudas found such abun- 
dance of hogs that for nine months' space they 
plentifully sufficed, and yet the number seemed not 
diminished." ^ 

Tools, sails, arms, cables, boats, and stores 
were recovered from the Sea Venture, and the 
castaways dug wells and built cabins, which they 
thatched with palmetto leaves. The palmetto 
and cedar furnished them with berries, and in 
addition to hogs the islands provided an un- 
limited supply of fish, turtles, water birds, and 
prickly pears. After a time it was decided to 
communicate, if possible, with Virginia. To this 

* These animals may have been the offspring of hogs that 
escaped from wrecked vessels, but it is possible that the islands 
were stocked by far-seeing pirates. When the Bermudas came 
under control of the company organised for their settlement, 
the memory of the abundance of hogs was perpetuated by the 
issuing of what the proprietors called a "base coyne." This is 
known to numismatists as "hog money," It was a crude and 
imperfectly stamped piece. On the obverse side were the words 
"Sommer Islands " and a wild boar, with the Roman numerals 
over it, and on the reverse appeared a ship under sail, having 
the Cross of St. George at each masthead. The number of coins 
was limited. Only a few are in the possession of Bermudian 
families and foreign collectors. All are held at high figures. 



% 



16 BERMUDA PAST AND PRESENT 

end the long boat was fitted with a deck made 
from the ship's hatches and provided with sails 
and oars. Carrying a crew of seven men in com- 
mand of Henry Raven, this little craft cleared 
the reefs on September 1 and reached the open 
sea, to pursue her perilous voyage. Raven prom- 
ised to return as quickly as possible, and by pre- 
arrangement beacon fires were lighted on the 
headlands so that he might be guided to a safe 
anchorage. But the plucky sailors went to an 
unknown death, and after two months elapsed the 
adventurers lost hope of receiving help from the 
mainland. 

The construction of a vessel was begun by 
Richard Frubbusher, a shipwright, probably at 
the little cove called Buildings Bay, within a 
short distance of the Town Cut Channel, at the 
eastern end of St. George's Island; but Sir 
George Somers, knowing that this craft would not 
be of sufficient size to accommodate all hands, 
decided to build a pinnace, and asked Sir Thomas 
Gates for workmen. His request was readily 
granted, but the spirit of discontent manifested 
itself, and the Governor faced three successive 
conspiracies against his rule, the last being so 
serious that he summarily shot one of the plotters. 
The remainder fled to the woods, but all save two 
— Christopher Carter and Edward W^^^^s — re- 



^ ROMANCE OF THE S^A VENTURE 17 

turned" upon receiving a promise of immunity 
from punishment, and thereafter the work pro- 
ceeded without interruption^, Both vessels were 
constructed largely of najiive cedar and caulked 
with, oakum, pitch, and t^it*j,^and Hme and ttirtle's 
oil. '^'^^ £. ,' '"■■ ^- 

Frubbusher's craft was launched on March 30, 
^ 1610, and named the Deliverance, She was forty 
■jji^, feet by the keel, nineteen feet iii breadth, and of 
about eighty tons' burden. A month later Somers 
launched the Patience, a pinnace of thirty tons, 
nine and twenty feet long and 'fifteen and a half 
feet at the beam. The locatioai of the Admiral's 
shipyard is unknown, although it idfipy have been 
at a bay in St. George's Harbour. 

" Before we quitted our old quarter," writes 
Strachy, " and dislodged to the fresh wa^r with 
pur pinAace, our governor set up in Sir George 
Somers's garden a fair Mnemosynon in figure of 
a cross, made of some of the timber ofo&r ruined 
ship, which was screwed in with strong and great 
trimnels'to a mighty cedar, which grew in the 
midst of the said garden, and whose top and upper 
branches he caused to be lopped, that the violence 
of the wind and weather might have the less power 
over her. 

" In the midst of the cross our governor fastened 
the picture of his majesty in a piece of silver -of 

2 



18 BERMUDA PAST AND PRESENT 

twelve pence, and on each side of the cross he set 
an inscription graven in copper, in the Latin and 
English, to this purpose : ' In memory of our great 
Deliuerance, both from a mightie storme and leake : 
wee have set up this to the honour of God. It is 
the spoyle of an English ship of three hundred 
tunne, called the Sea Venture, bound with seuen 
ships more (from which the storme diuided us) 
to Virginia, or Nona Britania, in America. In 
it were two Knights, Sir Thomas Gates, Knight, 
Gouvemour of the English Forces and Colonie 
there : and Sir George Summers, Knight, Admirall 
of the Seas. Her Captaine was Christopher New- 
port, Passengers and Mariners, shee had beside 
(which came all safe to Land) one hundred and 
fiftie. We were forced to runne her ashore (by 
reason of her leake) under a Point that bore 
Southeast from the Northerne Point of the Island, 
which wee discovered first the eight and twentieth 
of July 1609.'"^ 

Having spent nine months in Bermuda, the 
expedition continued its voyage on May 10, 1610, 
arriving at Jamestown on the twenty-fourth. The 
tiny settlement was on the verge of starvation, 
and although the newcomers were able to relieve 

* Other accounts say the fleet consisted of nine vessels, and 
that the Sea Venture had but one hundred and forty souls on 
board. Two children were bom in the course of the sojourn 
and five of the company were buried. 



ROMANCE OF THE SEA VENTURE 19 

the distress, their stock of provisions was suffi- 
cient only for two weeks. Accordingly, the Ad- 
miral and Governor decided to abandon the colony 
and take the people to Newfoundland. They had 
actually embarked and were sailing down the river 
when Lord De La Warr arrived with three ships. 
Jamestown was again peopled, and Sir George 
Somers volunteered to return to Bermuda for a 
supply of hogs and fishes. On the nineteenth of 
June he set sail in his own cedar pinnace, in com- 
pany with a vessel commanded by Captain Argall. 
They met fog and rough weather, were driven out 
of their course, and Argall returned to Virginia. 
Somers continued and reached Bermuda in safety. 
But the Admiral's strength did not answer to 
this last gallant eifort, and he died at the age 
of fifty-six in the town which bears his name. 
Irreverent persons have said that " a surfeit of 
roast pig " caused his death ; nevertheless, his 
last thoughts were of the suffering plantation. 
He counselled his followers to return to Virginia, 
but instead of heeding his dying injunction the 
Admiral's nephew. Captain Matthew Somers, who 
had assumed command, embalmed the body and 
sailed for England, leaving the heart buried at 
St. George's. The grave was marked by a wooden 
cross, which Governor Butler replaced in 1619 
by a marble slab bearing this inscription: 



20 BERMUDA PAST AND PRESENT 

" In the year 1611 
Noble Sir George Summers went Lence to Leaven, 
Whose well-tried worth that held him still imploid 
Gave him the knowledge of the world so wide ; 
Hence 't was by Heaven's decree that to this place 
He brought new guests and name to mutual grace; 
At last his soul and body being to part. 
He here bequeathed his entrails and his heart." 

The Admiral died in 1610, and poetic license 
was invoked to meet the rhyme. Butler's tablet^ 
disappeared long ago, and the exact location of 
the grave is unknown, although it was probably 
not far from the spot where the memorial of 1876 
stands. The Admiral was buried with military 
honours at Whitechurch, Dorsetshire, where in the 
ancient Church of St. Candida and Holy Cross 
his long-neglected grave was marked in 1908 by 
a tablet engraved with these words: 

Admiral Sir George Somers, Kt., 

Shipmate of Sir Walter Raleigh, 

Coloniser of the Bermudas. 

Born near Lyme Regis, 1554. 

Owner of Berne Manor, Whitechurch Canonicorum. 

Died in the Bermudas, November, 1610. 

Buried beneath the old Chantry, under the 

present Vestry, July 4th, 1611. 

Erected by 'public subscription, 1908. 

* Butler's tablet may have been stolen and built into one of 
the numerous brick ovens in the town. 



CHAPTER IV 

THE FIRST SETTLEES 

Captain Somers's return aroused so much in- 
terest with respect to the Bermudas that the 
Virginia Company determined to colonise them, 
although its charter did not extend to islands 
more than one hundred miles from the shores of 
its plantation. By an amendment in 161^ the 
limit was increased to three hundred leagues, and, 
says Lefroy, " in spite of remonstrances from the 
Spaniards that they only had by Papal bull the 
inheritance of the Indies, the merchants of Lon- 
don proceeded to appropriate the forsaken dis- 
covery of Juan Bermudez with as little hesitation 
as they showed in advancing their plantations in 
Florida and Virginia." 

The new plantation was first called Virginiola, 
but the name Somers Islands (it is still retained 
on official documents) was finally selected for the 
two-fold purpose of paying respect to the Ad- 
miral's memory and annunciating Bermuda's cli- 
mate. Richard Moore, a ship's carpenter, headed 
the first band of settlers, fifty in number, who 
sailed in the Plough, and arrived at the islands 
on July 11, 161^. To their surprise they were 



22 BERMUDA PAST AND PRESENT 

greeted by three forlorn and ragged men, — 
Christopher Carter, Edward Waters, and Edward 
Chard, — the " three kings " as they are called 
by Washington Irving. Carter and Waters were 
the recalcitrants who remained in hiding when the 
wrecked adventurers took their departure for Vir- 
ginia, and Chard, one of Captain Somers's crew, 
joined them in voluntary exile at the time the 
Captain sailed for home. The " three kings " act- 
ually represented British sovereignty, and they 
lived peacefully as farmers and fishermen until 
they discovered a quantity of ambergris. This 
sudden acquisition of wealth created such dissen- 
sion that Chard and Waters agreed to fight a 
duel. But they reckoned without Carter,^ who 
surreptitiously hid their arms, preferring two 
living enemies instead of none. For two full years 
the men dragged out a lonely existence, and they 
had resolved to build a boat and embark for Vir- 
ginia when the Plough appeared in the ofBng. 

Moore quartered his company at Smith's Island, 
soon moving across the harbour to St. George's, 
where he laid the foundations of the town. By 
successful diplomacy and a show of authority 
he acquired most of the ambergris, and he was 

* Samuel Carter, a fisherman, and a direct descendant of 
Christopher, died at St. George's in 1858. His fishing tackle, 
the old man's only possession, was placed in his coflSn by the 
author's father for use at a happier hunting ground. 



THE FIRST SETTLERS 23 

shrewd enough to realise that in this valuable 
commodity he had a "loadstone," as John Smith 
aptly expresses it, which would draw ships, sup- 
plies, and additional settlers from England. De- 
spite the proprietors' orders, he shipped the am- 
bergris in separate consignments, thereby exciting 
their avarice and compelling them to reinforce 
him several times. Moore's explicit instructions 
to erect fortifications retarded the development of 
agriculture to such an extent that many of the 
colonists were ill-fed and suffered from a disease 
called by John Smith " the feagues." 

The Bermudas remained under the Virginia 
Company's ^ jurisdiction but a few months, for 
they were transferred on November 25, 1612, to 
a new company composed of members of the old 
one. These owners assigned their rights to the 
Crown on November 23, 1614, and on June 29, 
1615, James I granted a charter to one hundred 
and seventeen adventurers under the title of " The 
Governor and Company of the City of London 
for the Plantacon of the Somers Islands." About 
this time Moore ^ became dissatisfied with the 

* In consideration of the small area of Bermuda the Virginia 
Company agreed to make a grant of land in Virginia toward the 
support of the islands, and the arrangement, Lefroy says, is 
commemorated by the name Bermuda Hundred, Chesterfield 
County, Va. 

^ Governor Moore retired to the Streights or Bermudas, in 
London, to escape his creditors. These obscure courts and alleys 



V 



24 BERMUDA PAST AND PRESENT 

manner in which those at home had treated him, 
and he departed, leaving the administration in 
the hands of six commissioners who, in turn, were 
superseded by Daniell Tucker, a Virginia planter, 
the first Governor under the Bermuda Company. 
Tucker sought to develop good husbandry, but 
he was thwarted by an overwhelming plague of 
rats, which destroyed the crops and fruits and 
ravaged the islands for two years, leaving desti- 
tution in their path. The rats were supposed to 
have been imported with a cargo of meal. 

In 1618 Richard Norwood began his survey 
of the islands, dividing them into eight tribes, 
and assigning to each adventurer his share or 
proportion of land — a proceeding which enabled 
the orderly disposition of property. The public 
lands, which were devoted to the maintenance of 
the Governor, sheriff, clergy, and commanders of 
forts, included St. George's, St. David's, Long- 
bird, Smith's, Cooper's, Coney, and Nonsuch 
Islands, part of the Main, and other islets at the 
eastern end, — nearly one seventh part of all the 
land in the colony. 

Each tribe contained fifty parts or shares, and 
they were called Bedford's, now Hamilton, Parish ; 
Smith's, Cavendish, now Devonshire; Pembroke, 

were frequented by debtors, bullies, and others of their ilk, whose 
"very trade is borrowing," says Ben Jonson in "Bartholomew 
Fair." 



THE FIRST SETTLERS 25 

Paget, Mansil's, now Warwick ; Southampton and 
Sandys. 

It would be impossible to relate within a small 
compass the detailed history of the plantation 
under proprietary rule. The colonists were 
granted a measure of self-government almost 
from the outset. A General Assembly met at 
St. George's on August 1, 1620, and there was 
another body called the General Sessions. " Twice 
every year each tribe sent six men, chosen by 
themselves, to the General Sessions," says Lefroy 
in his " Constitutional History of the Bermudas," 
" and every alternate year they sent four men to 
the General Assembly ; it is difficult to say which 
of the two bodies had the more important influ- 
ence. The General Assembly ' had the making of 
Laws and Orders for the particular necessities 
and occasions of the Islands,' but upon the grand 
jury devolved the tremendous power of present- 
ment without indictment for any matters or of- 
fences within their knowledge or observation ; and 
it is easy to see what an opening for scandals and 
petty persecutions was afforded by it." All acts 
passed by the Assembly were subject to ratifica- 
tion by the company, but, as Lefroy further re- 
marks, " if the colonists had in some sense repre- 
sentative institutions from the first, they were such 
as afforded no security against fiscal exactions." 



26 BERMUDA PAST AND PRESENT 

Indeed, the proprietors conducted an oppressive 
monopoly. A few of them emigrated to Bermuda 
and Hved on their shares, but the majority re- 
mained in England and permitted the colonists, 
their tenants, to cultivate tobacco, the staple crop, 
as halvers; that is, half of their products paid 
the rent of the land they tilled. 

"Tobacco is the worst of things, which they 
To English landlords, as their tribute, pay. 
Such is the mould that the blest tenant feeds 
On precious fruits, and pays his rent in weeds." 

By the terms of the company's charter the 
colonists were to be freed from taxation for seven 
years, and for fourteen years their products were 
to enter the ports of England under a duty of 
only five per cent, and, " after the expiration of 
twenty-one years, were to be charged only accord- 
ing to the books of rates and according to the 
ancient trade of merchants." In practice these 
conditions were openly disregarded, and long be- 
fore the seven years elapsed the inhabitants had 
petitioned the King for relief from " excessive 
rates of goods yearly sent over by them," the 
proprietors, who compelled the purchase of neces- 
sities from the company's depot at exorbitant 
prices. Tobacca being the only medium of ex- 
change, this system of polite extortion, combined 



THE FIRST SETTLERS ^7 

with impositions of fines and taxes, furnished the 
means by which the company kept its servants in 
poverty. Moreover, the inhabitants were per- 
mitted to trade only with vessels sent out by the 
company, — a rule combated by several of its 
members, — and they were forbidden to have com- 
mercial intercourse with other American colonies ; 
neither were they allowed to build ships. Denial 
of the right to engage in whaling, except by special 
commission, was another source of grievance. 

Those glowing tales of Bermuda's resources 
which were accepted without question in England 
before the process of colonisation began proved 
to be largely fictitious. " Ambergris," as Lefroy 
explains, " was not ' driven ashore by every storm 
where the wind bloweth.' The abundance of turtle, 
fish, and fowl came to an end." And what was 
even worse, tobacco never realised the profit ex- 
pected of it. The Virginia article was far supe- 
rior in quality, and what competition failed to do 
in the way of crushing the Bermuda grower was 
accomplished by the heavy imposts levied in Lon- 
don on his output. Tobacco never brought him 
more than two shillings and sixpence a pound, 
and its value finally declined to a point where the 
profit was inappreciable. 

The position of the various governors, who 
came and went frequently, was uncomfortable, to 



28 BERMUDA PAST AND PRESENT 

say the least. Dependent themselves upon the 
uncertain products of the public lands, and urged 
constantly to show results, financial results, from 
the colony as a whole, they threw the oppressive 
burden upon the people. Many of the colonists 
were sturdy and industrious, but others, men and 
women alike, came from London slums and jails. 
Lazy, shiftless, and morally depraved, these worth- 
less inhabitants had ample opportunity to satisfy 
their desire for intoxicants, thanks to the regular 
supplies brought out by the company's ships. 
Under the circumstances, harsh measures on the 
part of the governors were inevitable. Men were 
executed for minor offences, and the stocks, the 
branding iron, and the lash found victims innu- 
merable. The company's laws spared not even 
the innocent. Children of parents who had died 
in debt were sold into bondage, apprentices were 
virtually slaves, and there are records of adult 
colonists who Hved in servitude. 

As the colony grew older, it passed through the 
same social, political, and ecclesiastical struggles 
which beset England in the seventeenth century. 
Its population included many elements and faiths. 
Scotch and Irish prisoners of war were sent thither 
as convicts at large ; Anglicans, Royalists, Round- 
heads, Independents, Quakers, Brownists, Ana- 
baptists, and Presbyterians were represented in 



THE FIRST SETTLERS 29 

varying numbers, and each sect and political fac- 
tion had its dissensions and feuds. Secessions from 
the Established Church took place early in the 
colony's history, and though freedom of religious 
worship was frequently demanded, this laudable 
desire did not deter the Independents and others 
from persecuting their weaker brethren, particu- 
larly the Quakers, whose attempts to educate the 
negro slaves met with holy disapproval. 

A dramatic episode occurred when news reached 
Bermuda, in 1649, of the execution of Charles I, 
and the establishment by Oliver Cromwell of the 
Commonwealth of England. The native Royalists 
not only acknowledged Charles II to be their sov- 
ereign, but they rose in arms, elected one John 
Trimingham to the office of governor, and banished 
the more influential Independents, sending these 
so-called followers of the Commonwealth to the 
island of Eleutheria, where, in 1646, Captain 
William Sayle of Bermuda had founded a utopian 
plantation in which " every man might enj oy his 
own opinion or religion without control or ques- 
tion." In 1650 Parliament declared Bermuda to 
be in a state of rebellion, but as no attempt was 
made to reduce the colony to submission the in- 
habitants did not swear allegiance to the Common- 
wealth until after the surrender of Barbadoes — 
another rebellious colony — in 1652, 



30 BERMUDA PAST AND PRESENT 

Coincident with the rise of Puritanism came a 
change in the personnel of the company, which, 

/however, lost none of its privileges. Amnesty was 
granted to the native Royalists, and the banished 
Independents were recalled from Eleutheria, that 
colony having proved such a failure as to call forth 

- the sympathy of the Massachusetts churches, whose 
congregations collected some £800 to supply its 
necessities. 

A marked deterioration in the social and public 
life of Bermuda had its origin under Puritan rule 
with the sudden manifestation of a belief in witch- 
craft. Indiscreet actions and utterances of simple- 
minded men and women were enough to provoke 
indictments for sorcery, and several unfortunate 
persons suffered the penalty of death after notably 
unfair trials. Such persecution — in which, by 
the way, the clergy took no part, as they did in 
New England — continued at intervals for a period 
of forty-odd years. Social demoralisation became 
more pronounced during the reign of Charles II, 
and extended to the negro slaves, whose number 
had greatly increased since their advent in 1616. 
It is worthy of note that the Indians who were 
captured in the Pequod and Sachem Philip wars 
in New England and sold in Bermuda, as well as 
those brought from the West Indies, gave little or 
no trouble, but the negroes organised several 



THE FIRST SETTLERS 31 

formidable conspiracies, which resulted in severe 
measures against their lawlessness. 

In justice to the proprietors it must be said that 
they established schools and endeavoured to pro- 
mote the moral welfare of the colonists, in so far as 
it was compatible with their interests. Some of 
their laws, especially those designed to conserve the 
cedar, contained much wisdom, but avarice and 
the ignorance of tyranny were the most conspicu- 
ous features of administration, and the logical 
result came to pass. While the colony was demon- 
strating itself to be an unprofitable venture, the 
planters were enabled to purchase the acres they 
tilled, and gradually the company's property, ex- 
cepting the public lands, was alienated. As the 
tenants became freemen, they openly defied the 
company and refused to obey its laws, taking ad- 
vantage at the same time of its declining influence 
to press their claims for relief in England. Their 
side of the case was conducted with irresistible 
vigour, and at last, in 1684, the Court of King's "' 
Bench abolished the company through quo war- 
ranto proceedings, Bermuda entering upon a new 
era as a colony of the Crown. 



CHAPTER V 

COLONY UNDER THE CROWN 

During the last ten years of the Bermuda Com- 
pany's existence the Assembly was not permitted 
to meet, owing to its opposition to the high-handed 
method of government, but the Crown re-established 
this representative body and sessions were resumed 
on June 6, 1687. Some of the oppressive restric- 
tions were thereupon removed; in fact, the colo- 
nists were left to develop their resources without 
surveillance, the home government going so far 
as to neglect to send out gunpowder or ordnance 
in the period between 1701 and 1738. The Ber- 
mudians were not slow to desert their unprofitable 
farms and take a living from the sea, building 
small ships of cedar and finding employment for 
them. As early as 1678 some of the more enter- 
prising inhabitants carried their slaves to Turk's 
Island and engaged in the manufacture of salt. 
This lucrative trade was conducted in the winter 
months, the salt rakers storing their product in 
Bermuda and later, when the weather was fa-^ 
vourable, taking it to Virginia, Maryland, Pennsyl- 
vania, New York, and New England, receiving in 
exchange com, bread, flour, pork, and lumber. 




ROYAL PALMS AT HAMILTON 



COLONY UNDER THE CROWN S3 

Before the salt season opened it was customary 
for the traders to carry quantities of cabbages and 
onions to the West Indies, returning with rum, 
molasses, and cotton, the last-named product fur- 
nishing them with the greater part of their apparel. 

The salt trade continued without interference 
until the rakers were driven away by Spaniards in 
1710. By force of arms the Bermudians regained 
possession of the ponds, and thereafter they main- 
tained armed vessels for the protection of their 
industry. In the reign of George II the French 
landed and declared their right to Turk's Island, 
but were induced to withdraw peacefully; and 
again in 1764 they descended on the salt rakers, 
destroyed their buildings and effects, and took a 
number of them captive to Cape Fran9ois. The 
French, however, were compelled to give up the 
ponds and pay an indemnity, and the trade was 
rehabilitated. 

From men of their own blood, too, the Ber- 
mudians suffered indignities and losses. In 1768 
Captain Robert Gregory of H. M. S. Scarborough 
seized the cargoes of some twenty Bermuda vessels 
at Tortugas, where Bermudians had been making 
salt for fifty years. There was no warrant for 
Gregory's act; apparently he was paid for his 
work by captains of merchant ships under convoy 
of his own ; but the Bermudians obtained little or 

3 



34 BERMUDA PAST AND PRESENT 

no redress in this instance. At that time some 
seven hundred and fifty Bermudians were employed 
at Turk's Island, and they desired the annexation 
of the colony to their own, owing to their fear 
that the trade might be lost, as well as the atti- 
tude of the government of the Bahamas, which was 
imposing heavy taxes and undue restrictions upon 
the salt rakers under pretence of superior juris- 
diction. Strong representations were made to 
the Lords of Trades and Plantations on this 
point, the Bermudians asserting their rights as 
colonisers and recalling a former decision which 
had given them the freedom of the ponds. 

For thirty years the matter was held in abey- 
ance, then Turk's Island was granted to the Ba- 
hamas ; but long before that event the Bermudians 
had established themselves as the principal carriers 
in the coastwise and West Indian trade of the 
North American provinces. They were the origi- 
nal colonisers under the British government of the 
Bahamas, and in 1701 endeavoured to obtain legal 
control of them, pointing to the fact that five hun- 
dred "lusty young fellows," natives of Bermuda, 
who had gone to the West Indies to earn a living, 
would speedily repair to the new possession and 
settle it permanently. Not receiving a favourable 
reply and being annoyed by a nest of pirates who 
made the Bahamas their rendezvous, the Bermuda 



COLONY UNDER THE CROWN 35 

government sent out an expedition in 1713 and 
cleared the islands of these worthies. 

At home also the people had to fight for the 
protection of their shipping. In 1720 Captain 
Joell in the sloop Devonshire attacked and dis- 
abled a large Spanish ship, heavily armed, and in 
1741 a Spanish privateer, which had boldly landed 
prisoners on one of the islands, was pursued by 
two native sloops. At this time Bermuda priva- 
teers brought in many French prisoners, the 
number of which increased to such an extent in 
1745. that they proved a burdensome expense to 
the colony, and measures were adopted for their 
transportation. The people were so much con- 
cerned by the appearance of two French privateers 
in 1761 that the ship Royal Ann and brigantine 
Sally were hastily fitted to drive them away, an 
embargo being laid on shipping until the outcome 
of the cruise was learned. Though the expedition 
was successful, the enemy returned after a time 
and made many captures almost in sight of land, 
the government being too poor to keep armed 
vessels constantly in commission. 

So engrossed were the people in maritime pur- 
suits that little or no attention was paid to agricul- 
ture. The whites actually looked upon farming 
as a degrading occupation; they trained their 
active men slaves to be mechanics and sailors, leav- 



36 BERMUDA PAST AND PRESENT 

ing the tillage of land to incompetent negroes and 
aged women, whose implements were of the crudest 
type. This short-sighted policy made the people 
dependent upon America for three quarters of 
the supplies necessary for their subsistence, and 
brought about its punishment in due time. Twice 
in 1756 Gov. William Popple petitioned the Pro- 
vincial Congress of Pennsylvania for permission 
to import foodstuffs, and when the outbreak of the 
American Revolution led to the prohibition of trade 
and intercourse with the mainland after Septem- 
ber 10, 1775, the Bermudians faced extremities 
which afforded a severe test of their loyalty to the 
Crown. The Assembly passed a law to prevent 
the exportation of corn, wheat, barley, rice, beans, 
flour, etc., and fixed prices for these commodities, 
but this was insufficient to stave off the prospects 
of famine. Provisions could not be obtained from 
Great Britain because the people had no staple 
with which to purchase them; productions of the 
unprohibited colonies were sufficient only for them- 
selves ; the one alternative was an appeal to the 
magnanimity of the Americans in revolt. 

Exigencies of the situation naturally influenced 
the islanders. Members and friends of Bermuda 
families living in America had joined the cause of 
freedom in the field, the colony's commerce was in 
danger of annihilation; and a third consideration 



COLONY UNDER THE CROWN 37 

was the urgent necessity for food. To quote 
from an address of the Legislature to the Crown : 

" Self preservation gave the alarm, and in such 
an exigency there was no alternative but an appli- 
cation to the American Congress, setting forth 
the situation of the island and requesting a dis- 
pensation of that resolve in favour of a people 
who without their aid must inevitably perish, or a 
submission to all the horrors of famine and general 
distress. When such motives (and such alone) in- 
fluenced their conduct, the inhabitants of Bermuda 
assured themselves that the Father of His People 
would not take umbrage at a measure dictated by 
the most powerful and irresistible law of nature. 
The people therefore imprest with those sentiments 
deputed some persons from the several parishes 
to make application for that purpose in May, 
1775. At that time we scarcely knew of the dawn- 
ing of civil war and cherished hopes that it might 
still be prevented from breaking out by an amicable 
and honourable reconciliation. Altho' this pleas- 
ing hope has been blasted by the event, yet we 
flatter ourselves that your Majesty will regard 
with a favourable eye a measure which if repro- 
bated by the malevolence of some, or the misinfor- 
mation and ignorance of others, was yet dictated 
by necessity, the most urgent of human incentives." 

Congress replied to the petition by intimating 



38 BERMUDA PAST AND PRESENT 

that the Bermudians would receive supplies if 
they brought firearms and ammunition to America. 
Logical reasons prompted this answer. The Revo- 
lutionary army was in immediate need of powder, 
and General Washington had been apprised of the 
existence of a magazine in Bermuda, the contents 
of which he naturally coveted. Accordingly, on 
August 4, 1775, when in camp at Cambridge, 
Mass., the General wrote a letter to Governor 
Cooke of Rhode Island in which he said: 

" Our necessities in the articles of powder and 
lead are so great as to require an immediate sup- 
ply. I must earnestly entreat, you will fall upon 
such measures to forward every pound of each in 
the colony, which can possibly be spared. It is 
not within the propriety or safety of such a cor- 
respondence to say what I might upon this sub- 
ject. It is sufficient, that the case calls loudly for 
the most strenuous exertions of every friend of 
his country, and does not admit of the least de- 
lay. No quantity, however small, is beneath 
notice, and should any arrive, I beg it may be 
forwarded as soon as possible. 

" But a supply of this kind is so precarious, not 
only from the danger of the enemy, but the oppor- 
tunity of purchasing, that I have revolved in my 
mind every other possible chance and listened to 
every proposition on the subject, which could give 



COLONY UNDER THE CROWN S9 

the smallest hope. Among others, I have had one 
mentioned, which has some weight with me, as well 
as the general officers to whom I have proposed 
it. One Harris has lately come from Bermuda, 
where there is a very considerable magazine in a 
remote part of the island; and the inhabitants 
well disposed not only to our cause in general, but 
to assist in this enterprise in particular. We un- 
derstand there are two armed vessels in your 
province, commanded by men of known activity 
and spirit ; one of which it is proposed to despatch 
on this errand with such assistance as may be 
requisite. Harris is to go along as the conductor 
of the enterprise, and to avail ourselves of his 
knowledge of the island; but without any com- 
mand. I am very sensible, that at first view the 
project may appear hazardous and its success 
must depend on the concurrence of many circum- 
stances, but we are in a situation which requires 
us to run all risks. No danger is to be considered, 
when put in competition with the magnitude of 
the cause, and the absolute necessity of increasing 
our stock. Enterprises which appear chimerical, 
often prove successful from that very circum- 
stance. Common sense and prudence will suggest 
vigilance and care, where the danger is plain and 
obvious; but, where little danger is apprehended, 
the more the enemy will be unprepared, and con- 



40 BERMUDA PAST AND PRESENT 

sequently there Is the fairest prospect of 
success." 

The plan was approved by Governor Cooke and 
the Rhode Island Committee, and Captain Abra- 
ham Whipple agreed to engage in the affair on 
condition that General Washington gave written 
assurance that he would use his influence with the 
Continental Congress to permit the exportation of 
supplies to Bermuda, providing the Bermudians 
assisted the Captain. Another letter sent by Wash- 
ington to Governor Cooke reveals the General's 
intimate knowledge of the Bermudians' temper. 
On August 14 Washington wrote that " our Ne- 
cessity is great ; the Expectation '^f being sup- 
plied by the Inhabitants of the Islands under such 
hazards as they must run are slender, so that the 
only Chance of Success is by a sudden Strike. 
There is a great difference between acquiescing in 
the Measure and becoming Principals ; the former 
we have reason to expect, the latter is doubtful." 

On September 6 Washington suggested to Cooke 
the seizure of the mail packet from England and 
said : " If the vessel proposed to go to Bermudas 
should cruise for a few days off Sandy Hook, I 
have no doubt she would fall in with her." The 
same day this letter was written, Washington 
penned the following address to the Inhabitants of 
the Island of Bermuda : 



COLONY UNDER THE CROWN 41 

" Gentlemen, — In the great conflict, which 
agitates this continent, I cannot doubt but the as- 
sertors of freedom and the right of the constitu- 
tion are possessed of your most favourable regards 
and wishes for success. As descendants of free- 
men, and heirs with us of the same glorious in- 
heritance, we flatter ourselves, that, though divided 
by our situation, we are firmly united in sentiment. 
The cause of virtue and liberty is confined to no 
continent or climate. It comprehends, within its 
capacious limits, the wise and good, however dis- 
persed and separated in space and distance. 

" You need not be informed, that the violence 
and rapacity of a tyrannic ministry have forced 
the citizens of America, your brother colonists into 
arms. We equally detest and lament the prev- 
alence of those counsels, which have led to the 
effusion of so much human blood, and left us no 
alternative but a civil war, or a base submission. 
The wise Disposer of all events has hitherto smiled 
upon our virtuous efforts. Those mercenary 
troops, a few of whom lately boasted of subju- 
gating this vast continent, have been checked in 
their earliest ravages, and are now actually en- 
circled in a small space, their arms disgraced, and 
suffering all the calamities of a siege. The virtue, 
spirit, and union of the provinces leave them nothing 
to fear, but the want of ammunition. The appli- 



42 BERMUDA PAST AND PRESENT 

cation of our enemies to foreign states, and their 
vigilance upon our coasts, are the only efforts 
they have made against us with success. Under 
these circumstances, and with these sentiments, we 
have turned our eyes to you, Gentlemen, for re- 
lief. We are informed, there is a very large maga- 
zine on your island under a very feeble guard. 
We would not wish to involve you in an opposition, 
in which, from your situation, we should be unable to 
support you ; we know not, therefore, to what ex- 
tent to solicit your assistance in availing ourselves 
of this supply ; but, if your favour and friendship 
to North America and its liberties have not been 
misrepresented, I persuade myself you may, con- 
sistently with your own safety, promote and 
further the scheme, so as to give it the fairest pros- 
pect of success. Be assured that in this case the 
whole power and exertion of my influence will be 
made with the honourable Continental Congress, 
that your island may not only be supplied with 
provisions, but experience every mark of affection 
and friendship, which the grateful citizens of a 
free country can bestow on its brethren and 
benefactors." 

Captain Whipple sailed on September IS in the 
larger of the Rhode Island vessels, having instruc- 
tions to cruise off New York fourteen days witH 



jp>l'"l, II I m 







COLONY UNDER THE CROWN 43 

the purpose of intercepting the English mail 
packet. If the vessel did not appear in that time, 
he was to proceed to Bermuda. 

" But he had scarcely sailed from Providence 
before an account appeared in the newspapers of 
one hundred barrels of powder having been taken 
from Bermuda by a vessel supposed to be from 
Philadelphia, and another from South Carolina. 
The facts were such as to make it in the highest 
degree probable that this was the same powder 
which Captain Whipple had gone to procure. 
General Washington and Governor Cooke were 
both of opinion that it was best to countermand 
his instructions. The other armed vessel of Rhode 
Island was immediately despatched in search of 
the captain with orders, that, when he had fin- 
ished the cruise in search of the packet, he should 
return to Providence. But it was too late. Cap- 
tain Whipple had heard of the arrival of the 
packet at New York, and had proceeded on his 
voyage to Bermuda. 

" He put in at the west end of the island. The 
inhabitants were at first alarmed, supposing him 
to command a King's armed vessel, and the women 
and children fled into the country; but when he 
showed his commission and instructions they 
treated him with cordiality and friendship. They 
had assisted in removing the powder, which was 
made known to General Gage, and he had sent a 



44 BERMUDA PAST AND PRESENT 

sloop of war to take away all superfluous provis- 
ions from the island. They professed themselves 
hearty friends to the American Cause, but as 
Captain Whipple was defeated in the object of his 
voyage he speedily returned to Providence." 
(Governor Cooke's MS. letters, from " The 
Writings of George Washington," vol. Ill, by 
Worthington Chauncey Ford. ) 

By a singular coincidence, the magazine was 
depleted on August 14, the date of one of Wash- 
ington's communications to Cooke. Even now 
many details of the incident are still to be eluci- 
dated. George James Bruere, a man of unpleasant 
disposition, to characterise him mildly, was then 
Governor of the colony. His official residence oc- 
cupied a site on Government Hill, an eminence over- 
looking the town of St. George's, and the maga- 
zine stood near by. According to the local version 
of the seizure, the keys of the magazine were taken 
from beneath the Governor's pillow, and the pow- 
der kegs were rolled out of Government House 
grounds and conveyed to a spot on the north shore, 
now called the Naval Tanks. Here they were 
loaded into whaleboats in charge of a Captain 
Morgan,^ and carried to two Bermuda sloops at 
anchor outside the reefs near North Rock. 

^ A Bermuda tradition relates to a heavy raincloud which 
hangs over the islands at a certain season and is known as "Old 
Morgan," whose spirit cannot rest until the descendants of the 
"powder stealers " are hung. 



COLONY UNDER THE CROWN 45 

It is obvious that the affair was carefully 
planned, and that the participants included un- 
identified colonists of prominence, but it is cer- 
tain that the powder was not shipped in Ber- 
muda vessels. Bancroft says that George Ord in a 
sloop despatched from Philadelphia by Robert 
Morris under pretence of a trading voyage to New 
Providence, took the magazine by surprise, and, in 
conjunction with a schooner from South Carolina, 
carried off more than one hundred barrels of pow- 
der. The name of the South Carolina vessel does 
not appear, but Mr. De Lancey Cleveland,^ a de- 
scendant of Captain Ord, is authority for the state- 
ment that his vessel was the brigantine Retaliation, 
which anchored near Mangrove Bay, at the west 
end of Bermuda, and received the powder from 
sailboats that were sent to St. George's during the 
night of August 14. In view of the distance of 
the magazine from the point of loading and the 
many miles of water covered by the boats in the 
space of a few hours, the undertaking certainly 
proves the efficiency of Captain Ord's men. 

The affair created extraordinary excitement in 
Bermuda. The Assembly offered a reward of £100 
for the discovery of the offenders and said : " We 
are deeply concerned to find that so flagitious an 
act should have been committed at this time of uni- 

* New York Evening Post, February 24, 1904.: 



46 BERMUDA PAST AND PRESENT 

versal distress." Governor Bruere informed them 
that one hundred barrels had been carried away 
and called it a " most heinous and attrocious 
crime." He also made wholesale accusations of 
treason and strenuously endeavoured, but without 
success, to discover the names of the delinquents. 
So far as the Americans were concerned their act 
conformed to the legitimate rules of war, but the 
Bermudians were liable to severe penalties, and 
they naturally held their tongues. On the other 
hand, the Americans did not embarrass those who 
had helped them by unwise disclosures; thus the 
transaction is not illuminated to any extent by 
official records. 

Captain Ord is supposed to have landed the pow- 
der at Philadelphia, and this is probably correct, 
for in the minutes of the Pennsylvania Committee 
of Safety, dated August 26, 1775, the following 
entry appears : " A letter was this day received 
by Capt. Ord of the Lady Catherine, from Henry 
Tucker, chairman of the Deputies of the several 
Parishes of Bermuda, enclosing an account for 
1182 lbs. of gunpowder shipped by him aboard 
said vessel, amounting to £161. 14. 8., that cur- 
rency, with an account of eight half bars, of pow- 
der on board said vessel, the property of Captain 
John Cowper of North Carolina, for which last 
powder Mr. Tucker has engaged that this board 



COLONY UNDER THE CROWN 47 

or Mr. Robert Morris will be accountable for." 
The minutes for September 20 show this credit: 
" August 26. By sundry casks of powder im- 
ported in the Lady^ Capt. Ord from Bermuda, 
1800 lbs. N. B. There is upwards of 7 cwt. of 
the powder imported from Bermuda that is unfit 
for use." 

It would appear that both entries refer to the 
same consignment, and that the committee, of 
which Robert Morris was a member, took charge 
of all the powder. Captain Ord was the owner of 
more than one vessel, and the evidence seems to 
show that he used the Lady Catherine or Lady, 
instead of the Retaliation in his successful expedi- 
tion. A Captain Samuel Stiles of Georgia is an- 
other who is supposed to have participated, while 
a descendant of St. George Tucker^ asserts that 
this gentleman, a Bermudian by birth but a Vir- 
ginian by adoption, arranged the details of the 
seizure when he visited the islands, for the osten- 
sible purpose of obtaining a cargo of salt. That 
the Bermuda branch of the Tucker family had 
close connections with the American cause is ap- 
parent from the Pennsylvania Committee Records, 
as well as from the fact that American vessels, 
in communicating with the islands, were supposed 

* J. Fairfax McLaughlin, Jr.» in New York Evening Tost, 
March 5, 1904. 



48 BERMUDA PAST AND PRESENT 

to stand in toward the west end and set signals, 
which would bring a boat from a " Mr. Tucker." 

It remained for Washington to fulfil his promise 
to Captain Whipple, and on October 29, 1775, 
he wrote to Governor Cooke, saying : " Capt. 
Whipple's voyage has been unfortunate, but it 
is not in our power to command success, though 
it is always our duty to deserve it. ... I agree 
with you, that the attachment of our Bermudian 
brethren ought to recommend them to the favour- 
able regards of their friends in America, and I 
doubt not that it will. I shall certainly take a 
proper opportunity to make their case known to 
the honourable Continental Congress." 

The Continental Congress showed its gratitude 
by resolving, on November 22, 1775, to permit 
yearly exports of provisions to Bermuda in ex- 
change for cargoes of salt, a commodity which 
was not plentiful in America. Shipments were ap- 
portioned among the provinces as follows : South. 
Carolina was to send 300 tierces of rice; North 
Carolina, 16,000 bushels of Indian corn and 468 
bushels of peas or beans ; Virginia, 36,000 bushels 
of corn and 1050 bushels of peas or beans ; Mary- 
land, 20,000 bushels of corn and 582 bushels of 
peas or beans ; Pennsylvania, 1200 barrels of 
flour or bread and 600 barrels of beef or pork; 
New York, 800 barrels of flour or bread and 400 



COLONY UNDER THE CROWN 49 

barrels of beef or pork. The colonists were also 
to be furnished with lumber, soap, and candles as 
necessity arose. In accordance with this resolu- 
tion, the Pennsylvania Committee, on November 25, 
granted permission to Edward Stiles to load the 
Sea Nymph, Samuel Stobel, master, for Bermuda. 
This was but one of several cargoes exported un- 
der the terms of the resolve, the Secret aiid Marine 
Committee being " charged with fitting out ves- 
sels with cargoes to Bermuda." 

On July 24, 1776, the Continental Congress 
again extended aid to the Bermudians by permit- 
ting their vessels to trade with American ports, 
and in November, 1777, Bermuda ships were ex- 
empted from capture by American privateers. 
Notwithstanding these indulgences, the people 
continually suffered for lack of food because they 
had little or nothing of value to offer in return 
for provisions. Only by illicit trading with their 
salt vessels were they able to fulfil their urgent 
wants, although the government occasionally per- 
mitted ships to go in search of provisions. Some 
of the skippers who had no official commission 
went so far as to drive their craft among the reefs 
and leave the unloading to small boats. 

About the middle of 1777 two armed American 
brigs from South Carolina put in at the west end 
of the islands and remained a week without inter- 



50 BERMUDA PAST AND PRESENT 

ference, although the British sloop-of-war Naw- 
tilus lay at anchor in Castle Harbour. The 
Assembly protested against the inactivity of the 
sloop, but Governor Bruere explained that her 
bottom was foul and the pilots could not take 
her through the reefs. He said further that the 
" rebel brigs " were commanded by Bermuda cap- 
tains, who were " supposed to be well acquainted 
with the rocks and coast." 

Not aU the Bermudians were friendly toward the 
American cause, and American merchantmen suf- 
fered at the hands of loyalists who embarked in 
the business of privateering, with the approval 
of Governor Bruere. Though the native priva- 
teers captured a number of vessels, the Americans 
in turn took their share of prizes, one of which 
was a ship manned by eighty slaves, who were 
liberated upon their arrival at Boston. 

For the captured Americans no proper accom- 
modations were provided in Bermuda. They were 
fed on raw rice once a day, and their jail at St. 
George's was such a loathsome place that on No- 
vember 19, 1779, the Assembly complained to the 
Governor, saying : " Unhappy are we to find . . . 
that men thrown among us by the calamities of 
war alone should be suffer'd to remain in a situa- 
tion shocking to every principle of humanity." 
As a result of this treatment a malignant fever 



COLONY UNDER THE CROWN 51 

originated in the jail and spread throughout the 
islands, causing extreme mortality and interfering 
.with the sittings of the Assembly. 

The Governor died in September, 1780, and 
was succeeded by a man of the same name — 
George Bruere — who never lost an opportunity 
to accuse the Assembly and people of disloyalty. 
He complained that the Bermudians were supply- 
ing " the rebels " with " that great essential, salt " 
— a correct accusation without a doubt, for that 
was the only way in which they could keep them- 
selves ahve. " As far as I can," he said, " and it 
constitutionally lays with me, I will make my ac- 
tions outgo my words against the rebel trade. 
Let us change our system! fit out your fine ves- 
sels as privateers; the French and every enemy 
constantly pass close by us, often in our very 
sight. Conduct them in; riches and honour will 
attend you." 

It was the Governor's theory that the islanders 
could easily supply themselves by capturing prizes, 
and he persistently endeavoured to encourage priva- 
teering, urging at the same time the building of 
adequate fortifications. But the people paid little 
attention to this advice, and again in June, 1781, 
the Governor spoke about the "wicked, designing 
men " who " had caused a misguided and deluded 
people to do all they could to serve the Ameri- 



52 BERMUDA PAST AND PRESENT 

cans." Finally, he was unmercifully castigated by 
the Assembly and accused of prying into private 
correspondence by intercepting London letters on 
their return from Boston. These letters were 
probably written to Henry Tucker, the Bermuda 
agent at London, and it appears from the Gov- 
ernor's reply that they were returned by ^ John 
Hancock to Bermuda friends for the purpose of 
inflaming the people. 

Had the Continental Congress possessed a fleet 
capable of holding Bermuda, the colony might have 
been lost to England. The powder expedition not 
only suggested the probable reception which an 
invading force would have received, but it revealed 
Bermuda's weakness in a military sense, a small 
body of militia constituting its only protection. 
All this was known to the Americans and their 
allies, the French, who, realising the group's im- 
portance as a base for naval operations, advanced 
tentative plans for its capture. Silas Deane, a 
secret agent of the Continental Congress, who 
stopped at Bermuda in 1776, to purchase a swift 
native sloop, which carried him to Bordeaux, 
France, advised the seizure of Bermuda, while the 
same subject was subsequently discussed in cor- 
respondence which passed between the Comte de 

^ From 1775 to 1780 John Hancock was a delegate from 
Massachusetts to the Continental Congress. 



COLONY UNDER THE CROWN 53 

Vergennes, Brigadier Hopkins of the French ser- 
vice, and the Marquis de Lafayette. The latter, 
writing to the Comte on February 2, 1780, said 
he would personally organise a "parti de la 
liberte " in Bermuda. 

Another indication of the serious consideration 
given to Bermuda is contained in the Treaties of 
Commerce and Alliance between France and Amer- 
ica. This document, which was signed on Feb- 
ruary 6, 1778, provided that Bermuda should be 
added to the American confederation in the event 
of capture. Although the plans never materialised, 
they had the effect of producing in England a 
more intelligent recognition of Bermuda's value as 
a naval and military station. 

A contemporary account of the colony during 
the eighteenth century is found in the Abbe Ray- 
nal's work, " A Philosophical and Political History 
of the Settlements and Trade of the Europeans in 
the East and West Indies," published by Silvester 
Doig, Edinburgh, 1792. It is probable that he 
obtained his facts from travellers, as he did not 
visit the islands. He tells of their settlement, and 
says : 

" The population increased considerably, be- 
cause the advantages of the climate were greatly 
exaggerated. People went there from the Lee- 
ward Islands for the benefit of their health and 



54 BERMUDA PAST AND PRESENT 

from the Northern Colonies to enjoy their fortune 
in peace. Many royalists retired there in expec- 
tation of the death of their oppressor, Cromwell, 
Waller among the rest, that charming poet, who 
as an enemy to that tyrannical deliverer, crossed 
the seas, and celebrated those fortunate islands, 
inspired by the influence of the air, and the 
beauty of the prospects, which are always favour- 
able to the poet. He imparted his enthusiasm to 
the fair sex. The English ladies never thought 
themselves fine or well dressed but in small Ber- 
muda hats made with palm leaves. 

" But at last the charm was broken, and these 
islands fell into the contempt which their insig- 
nificance deserved. They are very numerous, and 
their whole compass does not exceed six or seven 
leagues. The soil is very indifferent, and has not 
a single spring to water it. There is no water to 
drink, but what is taken from wells and cisterns. 
Maize, vegetables, and excellent fruits afford 
plenty of excellent food, but they have no com- 
modities for exportation; yet chance has collected 
under this pure and temperate sky, four or five 
thousand inhabitants, poor, but happy in being 
unobserved. They have no outward connections 
but by some ships passing from the northern to 
the southern colonies, which sometimes stop to 
make refreshments in these peaceful islands. 



COLONY UNDER THE CROWN 55 

" Some attempts have been made to improve the 
circumstances of these people by industry. It has 
been wished that they would try to raise silk, then 
cochinealy and, lastly, that they would plant vine- 
yards. But these schemes have only been thought 
of. These islanders, consulting their own happi- 
ness, have confined their sedentary arts to the 
weaving of sails. This manufactory, so well 
adapted to plain and moderate men, grows daily 
more and more flourishing. 

" For upwards of a century past they have also 
built ships at the Bermudas, that are not to be 
equalled for swiftness and durability, and are in 
great request, especially for privateers. They 
are made of a kind of cedar, called by the French, 
Acajon. They have endeavoured to imitate them 
at Jamaica and in the Bahama Islands, where 
they had plenty of materials which were grown 
scarce and dear in the old docks, but these ships 
^re and must be far inferior to their models. 

" The principal inhabitants of the Bermuda 
Islands formed a society in 1765, the statutes of 
which are perhaps the most respectable monument 
that ever dignified humanity. These virtuous citi- 
zens have engaged themselves to form a library 
of all books of husbandry, in whatever language 
they have been written; to procure all capable 
persons, in both sexes, an employment suitable to 



56 BERMUDA PAST AND PRESENT 

their disposition; to bestow a reward on every 
man who has introduced into the colony any new 
art, or contributed to the improvement of one 
already known; to give a pension to every daily 
workman, who after having assiduously continued 
his labour and maintained a good character for 
forty years, shall not have been able to lay up 
stock sufficient to allow him to pass his latter days 
in quiet, and, lastly, to indemnify every inhabitant 
of Bermuda who shall have been oppressed either 
by the minister or the magistrate. 

" May these advantages be preserved to these 
industrious though indigent people, happy in their 
labour and in their poverty, which keeps their 
morals untainted. They enjoy the benefits of a 
pure and serene sky, with health and with peace of 
mind. The poison of luxury has never infected 
them. They are not themselves addicted to envy 
nor do they excite it in others. The rage and 
ambition of war is extinguished upon their coasts, 
as the storms of the ocean that surround them are 
broken. The virtuous man would willingly cross 
the seas to enjoy the sight of their frugality. 
They are totally unacquainted with what passes 
in the world we live in; and it will be happy for 
them to remain in their ignorance." 

This society, with its outlines of old-age pen- 
sions, one hundred and forty years odd, before 



COLONY UNDER THE CROWN 57 

they were adopted in England, may have been the 
Somerset Bridge Club, according to Williams, in 
his " History of Bermuda," published in 1848 ; 
" but," says he, " if such extensive and philan- 
thropical measures were ever contemplated, they 
must have signally failed, as the club has long 
since ceased to exist and its library has not been 
preserved." 



CHAPTER VI 

THE WAR OF 181S Al^TD AFTER 

A PARTIAL state of famine still existed in Ber- 
muda when William Browne of Salem, Mass., ar- 
rived in 1782 to fill the Governor's chair for a 
term that lasted six years. Governor Browne had 
held important judicial offices in Massachusetts, 
but his adherence to Tory principles necessitated 
his withdrawal from that province, although he 
was highly esteemed even by those who differed 
from him in opinion. Having an inherent knowl- 
edge of the needs of colonials, he was soon able 
to win the sympathies of the people, and, unlike 
the majority of his predecessors, he was patient 
and tactful in his dealings with the Assembly. 
While he did not actually discourage privateer- 
ing, the weight of his counsel was thrown against 
what he termed the " rude, desultory kind of life " 
on which the Bermudians had embarked, and he 
steadfastly endeavoured to promote a more whole- 
some respect for civil authority and the pursuit 
of milder occupations. 

One of his first acts was to declare the whale 
fishery free to all, for which the Assembly ex- 
pressed its gratitude in florid language. Hitherto 



THE WAR OF 1812 AND AFTER 59 

whales had been considered "royal fishes," and 
as the fishery could only be conducted under 
licenses, fees for which were paid to the Governor, 
the people had practically ceased to engage in 
it. Another progressive step was the Assembly's 
provision for the colony's first newspaper, the 
Bermwda Gazette^ which made its appearance on 
January 17, 1784. Governor Browne also inau- 
gurated a sounder financial policy, his adminis- 
tration being marked throughout by intelligence 
and a genuine desire to further the colony's 
interests. 

But he sometimes had great difficulty in enforc- 
ing the laws. In 178^ and 1783, for instance, 
small-pox spread over the islands to such an ex- 
tent that many persons had recourse to a form 
of inoculation which was illegal inasmuch as it 
widened the area of infection, although the cases 
were less virulent. Heavy penalties were imposed, 
the chief justice and speaker of the Assembly were 
even accused of transgressing the law, and the 
Assembly decided it would be expedient to pass 
a bill for the exemption of all fines if the 
" Streams of Justice " were to be " preserved pure 
and unpolluted." 

At the conclusion of peace the regulation of 
intercourse between the British West Indies and 
the United States opened to the Bermudians the 



60 BERMUDA PAST AND PRESENT 

prospect of enlarged commerce, Governor Browne 
saying the new policy suggested fair and profit- 
able employment, " as the superiority of our ships 
and sailors has long been universally acknowl- 
edged." He was not mistaken. Shipbuilding ^ 
received an impetus and the Bermudians resumed 
their old position as carriers for the Americans, 
having a fleet of more than one hundred and 
seventy-five vessels in 1789. Depredations of 
French privateers hampered shipping in 179B, 
but a more serious injury was brought about by 
the opening of the colony's ports to vessels of 
foreign nations that were friendly to Great Britain. 
For several years competition of foreigners was 
keen, and then the islanders forged ahead again 
until placed at a disadvantage by the War of 
1812. 

By an order in Council dated October 13, 1812, 
it was permissible to export to the United States 
in licensed foreign bottoms British plantation 
sugar and coffee imported into Bermuda by British 
vessels, and these foreign vessels might return with 
certain American products without fear of moles- 

^ Bermuda cedar Is so close grained that the shipbuilders put 
it into vessels' bottoms without seasoning. Their vessels were 
noted for speed — an essential quality in privateering days. 
They constructed several ships of war with cedar, but it splintered 
in action and proved so expensive that the practice was discon- 
tinued. The colony owned a sloop-of-war and gunboat in 1795. 



THE WAR OF 1812 AND AFTER 61 

tation by English men-of-war. This enabled the 
colony's fleet to conduct trade between Bermuda 
and the West Indies on the one hand and New- 
foundland on the other. There was profit in this 
when the Bermudians were successful in eluding 
the enemy, but so many of their ships fell into the 
hands of American privateers that the native mer- 
chants were seriously crippled. The extent of 
their losses is better realised when it is said that 
thirty-nine vessels belonging to the port of Hamil- 
ton alone, valued with their cargoes at a little 
more than £200,000 ^ were taken or destroyed in 
the course of the war. 

Conversely, scores of merchantmen flying the 
Swedish, Portuguese, and Spanish flags were sent 
into Bermuda for adjudication in the prize court, 
and the use of the islands as a naval base pro- 
vided employment for the shipbuilders and sur- 
plus sailors. Furthermore, the presence of a 
large fleet naturally attracted all manner of sup- 
plies, and not a few Americans engaged in the 
business of supplying the British squadrons. 

" We hear of frequent arrivals at Bermuda of 
provisions from the United States," says Niles' 
Weekly Register of Baltimore in its issue of 
April S4, 1813. " The traitors may yet be 

^ The colony's currency was at that period rated at twelve 
shillings sterHng to the pound. 



62 BERMUDA PAST AND PRESENT 

caught. It is a desperate game." One of the 
traitors, who apparently had no respect for an 
honoured name, brought the schooner George 
Washington from New Haven with forty head 
of cattle and offered to supply Admiral Warren 
with fresh beef, deliverable either at Gardner's 
Island in the Delaware or at Bermuda. 

Commercial houses and the government were so 
seriously embarrassed in 1814 by the scarcity of 
currency that Admiral Warren endeavoured to 
obtain supplies of cash from New London. He 
planned to have money received on board His 
Majesty's ship Victorious, and to her commander, 
Captain Talbot, detailed instructions were for- 
warded by the Spanish schooner Rosa. But the 
fortune of war made the Rosa a prize to the Amer- 
ican privateer Viper, and the Admiral's letter was 
found in one of the Spanish skipper's boots. 

Bermuda was never attacked or threatened with 
attack, but one humourously audacious American 
cruised off shore in the privateer Snap Dragon, 
after sending an " official " notice to the Governor 
that he had laid the islands under a rigid blockade. 
Two United States war vessels found their way 
to Bermuda under British colours. The first was 
the sloop Wasp, Captain Jones, which fought and 
defeated the British sloop Frolic in a desperate 
engagement off Albermarle Sound on October 13, 



THE WAR OF 1812 AND AFTER 63 

181^. Both vessels were disabled, and while effect- 
ing repairs the British hner Poictiers came on the 
scene and convoyed them to Bermuda. 

The second capture was that of Commodore 
Decatur's frigate President, which was taken in 
a running fight with a British squadron off Long 
Island on June 15, 1815, and lost heavily in offi- 
cers and men. Among the wounded was Midship- 
man Richard Sutherland Dale, a son of one of 
John Paul Jones's officers. Dale was nursed in 
a private family until his death and was buried in 
St. Peter's churchyard at St. George's. 

Journalistic enterprise in the case of the Presi- 
dent brought the editor of the Bermuda Royal 
Gazette, Edmund Ward, into high disfavour, and 
cost him his position as King's Printer. His side 
of the affair as personally related by him appears 
in the Bermuda Almanack for 1900, from which 
this quotation is taken: 

" During my residence in Bermuda the Ameri- 
can war broke out, and just at its conclusion the 
American frigate President, Commodore Decatur^ 
was captured by the Endymion, Capt. Hope. 
Commodore Decatur was transferred to the ship 
which captured his vessel, and sail was made for 
Bermuda. All the ship's books had been thrown 
overboard, and it was found impossible to ascer- 
tain the number of the President's crew, which, 



64 BERMUDA PAST AND PRESENT 

as was supposed, were subsequently distributed on 
board the other ships, with the exception of some 
thirty men and some junior officers, who were 
left on board intentionally; and Lieut. Morgan 
of the Endymion, and the Hon. Lieut. Perceval 
of the Tenedos, with ninety-six men, were put 
on board the prize for the purpose of bring- 
ing her into port. On the following day the 
ships separated in a gale, and towards evening 
it was fortunately discovered that sixty-eight men 
were concealed in the sail room, who were imme- 
diately secured and put in irons, and the Presi- 
dent narrowly escaped recapture by a treacherous 
surprise. 

" Having been informed of this circumstance 
by some gentlemen of St. George's who visited the 
ship, I mentioned it in the next Royal Gazette, 
and was directed by the Governor, Sir James 
Cockbum, to contradict it, on his assurance that 
it was not the case. Subsequently I found that 
I had been misled, and Commodore Decatur, on 
his arrival in the United States, having stated in 
a supplemental letter to the Secretary of the Navy 
that the contradiction had reference to his cap- 
ture by the Endymion alone, I reiterated my as- 
sertion as to the concealment of the men, which 
I was immediately required by Sir James Cock- 
burn to retract, and declining to do so, was 



THE WAR OF ISU AND AFTER 65 

deprived of my commission as King's Printer. It 
happened fortunately — the ship having sailed for 
England — that Lieut. Perceval remained on the 
station, who, on his arrival at Bermuda in the 
Bulwark, corroborated my statement, his servant 
having discovered the men. Sir James refused, 
however, to restore me to my situation, and 
I published the correspondence that had taken 
place previous to my dismissal. ..." 

American newspapers of the period industriously 
published statements to the effect that prisoners 
of war were ill-treated in Bermuda, but Dale's 
experience goes far to refute the assertions. The 
prisons hulks were not luxurious quarters, and 
individual cases of oppression existed without a 
doubt, but there is little evidence to show that 
the American sailors suffered more than the or- 
dinary discomforts of captives. 

One American, Henry King by name, escaped 
in a truly remarkable manner in July, 1814. King 
had been pressed into service on board the Poic- 
tiers under pretext that he was an Englishman, 
and later was transferred to the guard ship 
Ruby. He purchased a pocket compass from a 
shipmate, stole one of the Ruby's boats at night, 
and set sail for America, having two loaves of 
bread and a few quarts of water for provisions. 
When inclined to sleep he lashed his arm to the 

5 



66 BERMUDA PAST AND PRESENT 

tiller, so that if the boat wore 'round he would 
be aroused, and thus he sailed for nine days, 
landing in the vicinity of Cape Henry. 

The close of hostilities found the Bermudians 
in possession of forty-three foreign-built vessels, 
all prizes, which were added to their depleted ton- 
nage, making a merchant marine of seventy-odd 
ships. American vessels were excluded from the 
British West Indies, but Bermuda ports were 
opened to foreign vessels from the United States, 
and once more the Bermudians developed a profit- 
able commerce, carrying cargoes to and from the 
Caribbean. 

Their activities continued until the West Indian 
ports were thrown open to the United States in 
18^2; then the rapid increase of American and 
Canadian ships, which were more cheaply built, 
brought competition that could not be favourably 
met, and the Bermuda fleet, so long in the ascen- 
dancy, dwindled by degrees, the phrase " salt, cedar, 
and sailors " losing its significance as an expres- 
sion of Bermudian superiority on the high seas. 
One of the famous fleet, the Gleaner, a sloop of 
twenty tons, still does duty as a freight boat. 
She was built in 1820, and her stout timbers are 
nearly as good as ever. The Gleaner carried 
onions, packed in palmetto baskets, to the West 
Indies, and now she carries them among the 
islands. 



THE WAR OF 1812 AND AFTER 67 

A few of the shipping firms held out as long 
as thej could employ crews of slaves, but eman- 
cipation, which was proclaimed on August 1, 1834, 
necessitated the payment of good wages to sailors 
and practically completed the dissolution of the 
waning industry. The Bermuda slaves received 
few religious or educational advantages. They 
could contract legal marriages, but for a long 
time were denied the office of baptism. One law 
enacted in 1730 exempted a master from prose- 
cution if he killed one of his slaves while punish- 
ing him, but in the event of deliberate killing the 
slayer could be fined an^ compelled to pay the 
value of his victim, if he were the property of 
another proprietor. Frequently, slaves were vol- 
untarily freed when employment could not be 
found for them, but free negroes were subject to 
deportation under the law. Sometimes slaves who 
had been condemned to death were reprieved if 
they agreed to become executioners, and in at 
least two cases the rule was applied to white 
prisoners. At different periods the whites were 
alarmed by conspiracies among the slaves, but on 
the whole the races lived amicably, and in pro- 
mulgating the emancipation act the Legislature 
refused to take advantage of the six years' ap- 
prenticeship it allowed. 

The immediate extension of the rights of citi- 



68 BERMUDA PAST AND PRESENT 

zenship to the coloured people and an incident 
occurring in 1835, the year following emancipa- 
tion, expressed the people's attitude toward 
slavery. This incident concerned the American 
brig Enterprise, which with seventy-eight slaves 
on board called at the islands for provisions. 
Representations by the newly-liberated race in- 
duced the legal authorities to hold the vessel and 
disembark her passengers in order that they might 
have the privilege of personally deciding whether 
they cared to proceed on the voyage. All but 
a woman and her five children accepted freedom, 
and the Enterprise left seventy-two of her pas- 
sengers on shore. 

Virtually every white family held slaves at the 
time of abolition, and the compensation of £128,000 
($640,000) awarded to Bermuda was generally 
distributed. The system had made the whites indo- 
lent, but it was unattended by the same variety 
of demoralising evils which cropped out in large 
slave-holding communities. There were no great 
plantations, consequently no large colonies of 
slaves under a single master; and the seafaring 
life gave the coloured people a certain amount of 
freedom and wider opportunities for improvement 
than would have obtained had they been held 
strictly to the land. The treatment accorded the 
slaves is reflected in the present condition of the 



THE WAR OF 1812 AND AFTER 69 

race.^ The Bermuda coloured people are intelli- 
gent, well-mannered, contented, and respected by 
the whites. This respect is reciprocated. The 
colour line is drawn, the races have separate 
schools, but there is no race feeling, no race 
problem, and the political and legal rights of the 
coloured man are zealously guarded. 

It is worthy of note that at the height of their 
prosperity on the sea the Bermudians advocated 
their island home as a " nursery," as they called 
it, for seamen of the Royal Navy, and the War 
of 1812 so emphasised Bermuda's advantages as 
a naval station and fortress that ten years prior 
to emancipation a draft of convicts was sent from 
England to begin the development of the " Gibral- 
tar of the West." The convicts were employed in 
building the dockyard at Ireland Island and in 
the erection of fortifications and other imperial 
works in various parts of the colony. None was 
leased to private interests, neither were any dis- 
charged in the colony. 

* The headquarters staff lived at Boaz Island, 
and the greater number of prisoners were kept 
in hulks anchored off the dockyard. Some lived 
in vessels at St. George's. They were sent to 

^ In a number of coloured families there is a strain of 
Indian blood, due to intermarriage with Pequod and Carib 
slaves, high cheek bones and straight hair indicating the 
ancestry. 



70 BERMUDA PAST AND PRESENT 

labour on shore only when the weather permitted ; 
were not exposed necessarily in the sun ; and their 
hours of employment never exceeded eight per 
diem. With the idea of stimulating the prisoners 
to behave themselves and so obtain commutation 
of their sentences, they were classified as very 
good, good, indifferent, suspicious, bad, very bad, 
and were kept in separate compartments accord- 
ing to the classification. Their liberal food allow- 
ance included a gill of rum each day, and under 
certain conditions they were paid for their labour. 
One third of their weekly earnings they were per- 
mitted to spend for " articles of comfort," exclu- 
sive of meat, beer, and spirits ; the remainder was 
reserved until their discharge. Good convicts 
were therefore able to carry home a tidy sum. 
To unruly prisoners the cat-o'-nine-tails was ad- 
ministered in the presence of their mates, " for the 
sake of example," the number of lashes depending 
upon the state of the victim's health as prejudged 
by an attending surgeon. Sometimes a man re- 
ceived five hundred lashes, — enough to keep him 
in hospital for two weeks and scar him for life. 
Yellow fever scourged the prison hulks, particu- 
larly during one epidemic, and the records of the 
service were darkened by several murders and 
violent outbreaks. The last draft was sent home 
in 1863, without regret on the part of the natives. 



THE WAR OF 1812 AND AFTER 71 

The immense sums of money expended in forti- 
fications and the maintenance of the convict ser- 
vice naturally benefited the people, who were slow 
in adjusting themselves to the change in conditions 
resulting from the decline of their maritime in- 
dustry. Farming was their only alternative, but 
for men trained to the sea it was a difficult pur- 
suit, and the problem was further complicated by 
the apathy of the Legislature, which had long 
neglected the colony's internal welfare. But under 
the intelligent direction of Gov. William Reid, " the 
good governor," who assumed his duties in 1839, 
when but two ploughs were to be found in the 
islands, the people seriously devoted their energies 
to the soil, producing their far-famed arrowroot in 
large quantities and increasing their output of 
onions and green vegetables. Governor Reid's ad- 
ministration of five years marked the beginning of 
a more enlightened and progressive Bermuda, al- 
though the colony existed mainly upon the British 
taxpayer's gold until the outbreak of the Amer- 
ican War of the Rebellion. 



CHAPTER VII 

'S PART IN THE C 

Never again, perhaps, will Bermuda experience 
such a sudden transformation as that which fol- 
lowed the American War of the Rebellion. A 
year before the Southern States seceded the colony 
was known only as a British military outpost. Its 
trade was limited; its people were poor and con- 
tent to eke out an humble existence, following as 
best they might in the footsteps of their fore- 
fathers. Communication with the outside world 
was restricted, and Bermudians were but mildly 
interested in fragmentary reports which told of 
the mighty political contest that was to place 
Abraham Lincoln in the White House. 

The year 1860 passed, Lincoln was inaugurated, 
the foundation of the Confederacy laid. Sumter 
fell; on April 19, 1861, the President proclaimed 
a blockade of the Southern States from South 
Carohna to Texas. On April 27 the blockade was 
extended to Virginia and North Carolina, and 
within five months the Federal cruisers had be- 
come numerous enough to close many of the larger 
Southern ports to saiHng vessels engaged in trade 
with the enemy. In September Bermuda was re- 



THE CIVIL WAR 73 

ported to Washington as swarming with secession- 
ists, and the eyes of the United States government 
were directed thither in the knowledge that the 
islands were admirably situated for the operations 
of steam, blockade runners, which were already 
beginning to make their appearance in Southern 
waters. 

October 21 witnessed the arrival of the first 
American warship, the Connecticut, whose mission 
was to intercept the rebel steamer Nashville, which 
was supposed to be carrying the Confederate 
agents, Mason and Slidell, and $2,000,000 for 
the purchase of supplies in England. Hearing 
nothing of his quarry, the Connecticufs comman- 
der left to cruise south, and in so doing missed the 
Nashmlle, which in the meantime had slipped out 
of Charleston and laid a course for Bermuda. She 
arrived there on October 26, but Mason and Slidell 
were not among her passengers ; they had gone 
to Havana in another vessel. Taking six hundred 
tons of coal at St. George's, the Nashville got 
away on her voyage to Southampton before 
Washington could send another cruiser after her. 

It was obvious that Bermuda was to become an 
entrepot for the Confederates, and its life quick- 
ened in response to the tide of events. Cotton 
was to furnish the sinews of war in the Confed- 
eracy, and arrangements had already been made 



74 BERMUDA PAST AND PRESENT 

in England for credit upon the faith of the crop 
of 1860, and upon that proportion of subsequent 
crops which the rebel government could reasonably 
control. The situation was a simple one. Eng- 
lish mills needed raw cotton, the Southerners 
needed munitions of war, manufactured supplies 
and food. There was plenty of cotton available 
in Southern ports for the private speculator at 
four cents and six cents a pound, and the Liver- 
pool merchant foresaw great profits if he could 
successfully market it in England, where the price 
had risen to sixty cents in anticipation of a great 
shortage. The question was one of transporta- 
tion, but the difficulties were not insuperable. 
Ships and men were quickly commandered, and 
with so much energy did the Liverpool merchants 
prosecute their plans that the United States gov- 
ernment was moved, in the latter part of Novem- 
ber, to order the Keystone State to cruise in the 
vicinity of Bermuda for the purpose of interdict- 
ing traffic with Confederate ports. 

Her visit was unhappily timed on account of 
the diplomatic friction which had arisen over the 
seizure of Mason and Slidell on board the Royal 
Mail steamship Trent, and her commander re- 
ceived few civilities from the Bermuda authorities. 
He was refused the privilege of taking government 
coal, ostensibly because the supply was limited, 



THE CIVIL WAR 75 

and the Quaker City, which followed the Keystone 
State into port, suffered a similar experience. The 
vessels, however, were not denied the right to avail 
themselves of private supplies, as the Nashville 
had done ; nevertheless, the Washington authori- 
ties considered the incident of sufficient importance 
to quote it in their case dealing with the Alabama 
Claims, as evidence of unfriendly feeling toward 
the North. 

There was no exaggeration in the statement that 
Bermuda swarmed with secessionists. The winter 
of 1861-62 revealed to the people the possibilities 
of their newly-found trade, and their sympathies 
were extended in no half-hearted manner to the 
land whence it flowed. If commercial greed ruled 
their actions, they at least had the excuse of fol- 
lowing the example of England herself. At first 
blockade running direct from England was at- 
tempted, ships carrying papers which indicated 
their destination to be either Bermuda or Nassau, 
at which ports they might await a favourable op- 
portunity for the dash to their real objective. 
The Fingal, Captain Bulloch, C. S. N., Gladiator, 
Bermuda, and Watson were four steamers loaded 
in Great Britain with munitions of war and sent 
out to Confederate ports in 1861 via Bermuda. 

It was soon discovered, however, that direct 
voyages would not be profitable, particularly as 



76 BERMUDA PAST AND PRESENT 

the Supreme Court of the United States had con- 
demned several captured vessels, and the plan of 
transshipment was adopted. By this device the 
trade between England and the points of trans- 
shipment — - Bermuda, Havana, Nassau — • was con- 
ducted in vessels of large capacity, while a class 
of swift, light-draught steamers, especially de- 
signed to meet the exigencies of blockade running, 
were employed in the actual work of supplying 
the Confederacy. 

Nassau was a greater station than Bermuda, 
though the Bermudians had no cause for j ealousy. 
The harbour of Hamilton saw a considerable num- 
ber of vessels, but the principle centre of activity 
was St. George's, because of its proximity to the 
open sea. The older town completely lost its 
lethargy. Its warehouses were crowded with mer- 
chandise, its wharves with cotton and coal; often 
a score or more of steamers lay at anchor in the 
harbour. And there roamed about the streets a 
cosmopoHtan crowd of sailors, with whom were 
mingled Northern and Southern spies and adven- 
turers from the seven seas. There were not enough 
houses to accommodate the motley crew. Men 
slept wherever they could, — among the cotton 
bales, under verandahs, in streets, vacant lots, pub- 
lic houses. They were willing to do anything 
almost, or suffer any inconvenience for the sake 



THE CIVIL WAR 77 

of one thing — money; that was the bait which 
had drawn them to the hitherto neglected islands. 

There was plenty of money. Tales whispered 
in the ports of the world had not been embroi- 
dered, as these adventurers discovered when they 
came to Bermuda, and those who knew how could 
feather their nests. Captains of blockade runners 
received $5000 for the run in and out; chief 
officers, $2500; chief engineers, $2500; second 
and third officers, $1250; able seamen and fire- 
men, $250; pilots, $5750. Pilots were so well 
paid because, being Southerners, they were not 
exchanged when captured. 

These sums represented gold, not Confederate 
currency, and in each instance half of the amount 
was paid as a bounty before the voyage began. 
Wages on shore were proportionately high, and 
it was common knowledge that the labourer could 
afford to live in luxury ; but the money went as 
it came, — freely and swiftly, like the liquor it 
purchased in the nightly revels. These, too, were 
days of prosperity for the local merchant. Into 
his till flowed the capital of blockade skippers who 
succumbed to the allurement of private ventures, 
and though he called frequently upon New York 
as well as England for goods, he had difficulty 
in meeting the insistent demand. He also served 
as banker for thrifty sailors, and sometimes in- 



78 BERMUDA PAST AND PRESENT 

duced a friendly skipper to carry a small con- 
signment of shoes or cloth on commission, to the 
profit of both. 

To return to the cruisers. The Nashville came 
back to Bermuda on February 20, 1862, the day 
after the American consul, Mr. C. M. Allen, had 
been notified of instructions issued by the British 
government which forbade men-of-war of either 
belligerent to take a supply of coal in excess of 
what would be necessary to carry them to the 
nearest port in their respective countries, or to 
some nearer destination. If, however, such vessels 
had coaled at a British port within three months, 
they were to be denied a further supply. As the 
Nashville had been accommodated at Southampton 
before sailing for Bermuda, Mr. Allen tried to 
prevent her from filling her bunkers ; but his pro- 
test was disregarded because the instructions had 
not been officially promulgated, and the cruiser 
was sent to sea under escort of H. M. S. Spiteful. 

This incident created a good deal of feeling, 
which was further intensified by differences aris- 
ing between the Governor of Bermuda, H. St. 
George Ord, and Acting Rear-Admiral Charles 
Wilkes, U. S. N., upon the arrival of the latter, 
September 27, 1862, with the flagship Wachmett 
and the Sonoma and Tioga, all of which were at- 
tached to the West India Squadron. The Admiral 



THE CIVIL WAR 79 

was the same impetuous Wilkes who as captain of 
the San Jacinto had taken Mason and SKdell from 
the Trent ten months before and nearly precipi- 
tated war between Great Britain and the United 
States. He came into St. George's Harbour with 
the Wachusett and Tioga, leaving the Sonoma to 
cruise outside for the purpose of intercepting 
blockade runners. This annoyed Governor Ord, 
and after two days he sent a naval lieutenant on 
board to tell Stevens, her commander, that he 
must either anchor inside the harbor or stand oif 
to sea. Stevens curtly refused to obey any person 
save his superior officer, and some sharp corre- 
spondence passed between Admiral and Governor. 
Wilkes complained that in entering port no 
national flag had been displayed at the staff on 
shore; that the Queen's proclamation relative to 
repairs and coaling had been handed to him by 
a person in " ordinary " dress ; and that only after 
he had sent an officer on shore to tender a salute 
was that formahty carried out, gun for gun. The 
Governor sent a verbal apology for the delay in 
accepting the salute, and Wilkes brought the 
Sonoma into port on October 1. Immediately a 
misunderstanding arose over her right to take 
coal, the Governor asserting that her supply had 
been unnecessarily depleted while cruising outside. 
Wilkes contended that the Governor had already 



80 BEKMUDA PAST AND PRESENT 

approved all his plans, and the point was settled 
in the American's favour without delay. The 
Tioga then went to sea, the Wachusett, whose 
machinery had become disabled, and the Sonoma 
following soon after. 

Wilkes himself went direct to the rendezvous 
in the New Providence Channel, but he had not 
finished with Bermuda. His instructions to the 
Tioga and Sonoma bade them remain in the vicinity 
of the islands and suffer nothing to escape. He 
had found, so he wrote Gideon Welles, Secretary 
of the Navy, in his first report, that Bermuda was 
the " principal depot of arms and munitions of 
war " for those intending to run the blockade ; and 
he had seen at St. George's seven British steamers 
preparing to make the run at the most favourable 
opportunity. His desire to capture or at least to 
bottle up these vessels led him to institute an ex- 
traordinary " blockade," which was not justifiable 
in view of the fact that England and the United 
States were at peace. 

The Sonoma and Tioga kept in touch with 
Consul Allen by boats and signals, receiving in- 
formation about the movements of blockade run- 
ners. On the 5th Commander Rogers of the Tioga 
heard that the little steamer Ouachita would try 
to get away through Chub Cut, a passage in the 
reefs at the west end, and succeeded in stopping 



THE CIVIL WAR 81 

her. Two days afterward the Gladiator came out 
from St. George's, convoyed by H. M. S. Desper- 
ate. Stevens boarded her outside the marine limit, 
and while doing so he observed the Harriet Pinck- 
ney leaving the harbour. Finding the Gladiator's 
papers to be correct, he permitted her to proceed, 
and steered for the Pinchney, which promptly re- 
turned to port. The same night a steamer ap- 
peared in the offing, and the Sonoma prepared to 
speak her. She ran for the harbour, with lights 
extinguished, but was stopped by a shot across 
the bows. She proved to be the Royal Mail steam- 
ship Merlin. 

That was the culminating incident of the 
" blockade." The Governor's temper had reached 
the breaking point. On October 10 he despatched 
H. M. S. Plover to notify Rogers that he must 
not communicate with shore except by special per- 
mission. The warning made no great impression 
on the two commanders, but they were obliged to 
depart on October 12, having barely more than 
enough coal to carry them to the New Providence 
Channel, and the worries of the blockade runners 
were hghtened. In his final report to Secretary 
Welles, Wilkes characterised the Bermuda officials 
as " a pack of secessionists," who " were in hopes 
to get rid of us, but notwithstanding we procured 
all we wanted." 

6 



82 BERMUDA PAST AND PRESENT 

A strong remonstrance from the British govern- 
ment followed these incidents. Writing to Wil- 
liam H. Seward, Secretary of State, Lord Lyons, 
British Ambassador at Washington, said: "I am 
directed to express the regret of Her Majesty's 
government that Rear- Admiral Wilkes, who treats 
with contempt the lawful orders issued by the 
duly instigated authorities of the British Crown, 
should have been appointed to a command in which 
he could not fail to be brought into contact with 
those authorities." 

It was asserted that Wilkes had offensively and 
unlawfully placed sentinels on British territory ; 
that he had contemptuously evaded orders in re- 
gard to coal supplies ; and that he had anchored 
his vessels in a position to control shipping, in 
addition to cruising in neutral waters in excess of 
his rights as a belligerent. Wilkes denied that he 
had tried to control shipping and said he had 
merely placed sentries at the foot of the gangway 
while his cruisers were coaling, to prevent the 
smuggling of liquor on board. 

In one of his letters to Governor Ord, Wilkes, 
referring to the expression, " I have to inform 
you that the vessel {Tioga) cannot be permitted 
to return within these waters," replied in the fol- 
lowing terms : " This I cannot permit ; my gov- 
ernment alone has the power of instructing me." 



THE CIVIL WAR 83 

The British government obj ected to this language, 
but it was upheld by Secretary Seward, and the 
matter was dropped after an exchange of several 
notes. 

Late in 1862 Major Norman Walker, an Eng- 
lishman, took up his residence in Bermuda as po- 
litical agent of the Confederacy, commercial trans- 
actions being left in the hands of John T. Bourne, 
a Bermudian. Major Walker's duties were to fa- 
cilitate transportation of supplies, smooth the way 
for blockade runners, and to provide sufficient coal 
for their use, each vessel taking about one hundred 
and eighty tons every voyage. The task was not 
a light one, particularly that part which concerned 
the coal. The steamers could not bum with safety 
fuel which would give out a black smoke to reveal 
their presence to alert cruisers, and as the United 
States had prohibited the exportation of anthra- 
cite it was necessary to keep on hand a large sup- 
ply of semi-bituminous Welsh coal. Without the 
assistance of the colliers the blockade runners 
would have been seriously crippled, for the fleet 
had grown to amazing proportions through the 
formation of English companies for the sole 
purpose of prosecuting the trade. 

The craft they sent out were quickly and flim- 
sily built of iron and, in a few cases, steel, at a low 
cost. Some were propelled by screws, the ma- 



84 BERMUDA PAST AND PRESENT 

j ority by paddle wheels ; all were picturesquely 
rakish, with a low freeboard and a turtle-back deck 
forward, which enabled them to be driven at high 
speed in a seaway. They drew nine or ten feet of 
water, and could usually make fourteen knots when 
pressed, enough to outfoot the fastest cruiser. 
Their tonnage varied from one hundred to nine 
hundred, with crews in accordance with their size, 
the maximum number being fifty men. 

Every conceivable precaution was taken to ren- 
der the slippery vessels invisible at night. They 
were painted a dull lead colour and carried two 
low spars with a minimum of rigging and no yards, 
merely a crow's nest on the foremast for the look- 
out. Their boats were lowered to the level of the 
rail, and their funnels could be telescoped in case 
of emergency. Steam was blown oif under water ; 
not a light was displayed in dangerous waters; 
even the binnacle lamps were screened to all but 
the helmsman. In the poultry crates no cocks 
were allowed; such birds could not be trusted 
to keep silence when the smell of land floated 
seaward. 

Practically all the steamers which ran out of 
Bermuda cleared for Nassau but went to Wilming- 
ton, N. C, — a comparatively easy port to enter, 
although guarded by a vigilant fleet. Dark nights 
— the darker the better — were chosen for the 



THE CIVIL WAR 85 

voyage, which could usually be accomplished in 
sixty hours, if Federal cruisers did not lay chase. 
Outward cargoes consisted of artillery, rifles, and 
other munitions of war, billed as " hardware," and 
sometimes as military supplies ; army boots, uni- 
form cloth, medicines and a variety of foodstuffs. 
Returning, the vessels carried cotton and occa- 
sionally rosin and turpentine, as much as could be 
stowed under hatches and on deck. Invariably 
they were loaded to the danger line, and only su- 
perior seamanship brought them through the 
winter gales, particularly when they developed 
leaks under the excessive strain of heavy cargoes. 

As soon as a new vessel arrived from England, 
Mr. Allen sent her description and name to Wash- 
ington, whence all information was transmitted to 
the blockading squadrons. He also kept a record 
of the amount of coal imported by Maj or Walker. 
Surveillance, however, did not hamper the opera- 
tions, neither did the numerous diplomatic pro- 
tests forwarded to London from Washington. 
Great Britain maintained that there was nothing 
contrary to the law of nations in the transship- 
ment of blockade-running cargoes, and put no 
obstacles in the way of the vessels. The United 
States was therefore unable to control the activi- 
ties of the people at Liverpool, Bermuda, and 
Nassau, and the trade went merrily on. The com- 



86 BERMUDA PAST AND PRESENT 

panles had reduced the business to a science, and 
so enormous were their profits that they were more 
than compensated if they lost a ship after she had 
made two successful voyages. There were losses, 
of course, about twenty steamers being captured 
or destroyed between Bermuda and Wilmington, 
but in the first three years the vessels made their 
voyages almost as regularly as mail boats. A 
rather unusual wreck was that of the Vesta, carry- 
ing nine passengers, including several Confederate 
naval officers. Her fate is thus recorded in the 
Richmond Examiner of January 20, 1864 : 

" This was the first trip of the Vesta from Eng- 
land. She was a double-screw steamer, perfect in 
all appointments, and commanded by Captain R. 
H. Eustace, an Englishman. 

" The Vesta left Bermuda on the 3rd inst. For 
seven days she was chased over the seas by a num- 
ber of Yankee cruisers, and succeeded in eluding 
them, and on the 10th made the coast in the 
vicinity of Wilmington. Being compelled to lay 
to, she was descried by a Yankee cruiser, which 
gave chase, and in half an hour eleven Yankee 
vessels were pouncing down upon the suddenly 
discovered prey. The Vesta, though apparently 
surrounded, ran the gauntlet in splendid style, 
through one of the most stirring scenes the war 
has yet witnessed on the water. 



THE CIVIL WAR 87 

" Some of the cruisers attempted to cross her 
bows and cut her off, but she was too rapid for 
this manoeuvre, and at half a mile's distance some 
of the cruisers opened their broadsides upon her, 
while five others in chase were constantly using 
their bow guns, exploding shells right over the 
decks of the devoted vessel. Fortunately, no one 
was hurt, and the vessel ran the gauntlet, raising 
her flag in defiance, suffering only from a single 
shot, which, though it passed amidships, above 
the waterline, happily escaped the machinery. 

" But the trouble seems to have commenced with 
what the passengers anticipated to be the trium- 
phant escape from their captors ; for the captain 
and the first officer. Tickler, are reported to have 
become outrageously drunk after the affair was 
over and the night had fallen. It is said that the 
captain was asleep on the quarter-deck, stupefied 
with drink, when he should have put the ship on 
land; and that at two o'clock in the morning he 
directed the pilot to take the ship ashore, telling 
him that the ship was ten miles above Fort Fisher, 
when the fact was that she was about forty miles 
to the southward of the Fryingpan Shoals. 

" Fifteen minutes afterwards the Vesta made 
land, the pilot having run her so far ashore that it 
was impossible to get her off. She was run 
aground at Little River Inlet ; the passengers 



88 BERMUDA PAST AND PRESENT 

landed in boats minus their baggage; and, al- 
though there were no cruisers in sight, and not 
the least occasion for precipitation, the vessel, 
with all her valuable cargo, was fired before day- 
light by order of Captain Eustace and burned to 
the water's edge. The cruisers did not get up 
to the wreck until two o'clock on the afternoon of 
the next day, and they were attracted to it by 
the smoke from the conflagration. 

" The cargo of the Vesta was of the most 
valuable description; three-fourths of it on gov- 
ernment account, consisting of army supplies and 
including a very extensive ^ lot of English shoes. 
There was also lost in the wreck a splendid uni- 
form intended as a present to General Lee, from 
some of his admirers in London. Nothing of any 
account was saved." 

Disasters from carelessness were not often re- 
corded. On the whole the companies were admi- 
rably protected by the men they employed, the 
glittering bounties enabling them to get picked 
crews and the most resourceful pilots and cap- 
tains. Of the latter the majority were Britishers, 
including officers of the Royal Navy on fur- 
lough, who succeeded under assumed names in 
screening their identity, even from the Bermudians. 

The most famous of all the naval men was " Cap- 
tain Roberts," afterward Hobart Pasha of the 



THE CIVIL WAR 89 

Turkish Navy. He joined the Don, a twin-screw 
steamer, at St. George's and was persona grata at 
Government House whenever he returned to Ber- 
muda. The American cruisers were ever on the alert 
for the Don; finally one of them got her — but not 
" Roberts." " The first remark of the boarding 
officer was : ' Well, Capt. Roberts, so we have 
caught you at last ! ' and he seemed much disap- 
pointed when he was told that the captain they 
so particularly wanted went home in the last mail." 
So relates " Roberts " in his little book, " Never 
Caught in Blockade Running." He did not keep 
his resolve to drop the business — it was too fasci- 
nating. In 1864< he was back again with a new 
ship, but after one lucrative trip an attack of yel- 
low fever, contracted in Bermuda, put an end to 
his activities as a blockade runner. " Roberts " 
made seven voyages and once travelled through 
the Northern lines from Richmond to Washington, 
thence going to New York. 

Among his naval associates who ran from Ber- 
muda, with more or less success, were Murray 
(Admiral Murray- Aynsley in later years) ; Hugh 
Burgoyne, V. C, who lost his life in the sinking of 
the ironclad Captain; and Hewett, V. C, who 
died an admiral, after commanding the Queen's 
yacht. No one knew every member of the ad- 
venturous naval company. 



00 BERMUDA PAST AND PRESENT 

Conspicuous among the merchant captains were 
the mysterious John Burroughs — a naval officer, 
some called him — master of the Cornuhia, North 
Heathy Gertrude, and Pavensey; Coxetter of the 
Herald, who made his trips with surprising regu- 
larity; cool-headed J. W. Steele, of the Banshee; 
Peniston, who commanded the Siren, a nutshell of 
a steamer ; and Robert C. Halpin, of the Emilys 
in later years captain of the Great Eastern, 

While the Confederates compelled privately 
owned blockade runners to include in their cargoes 
cotton on government account, they also operated 
three or four vessels of their own and held an 
interest in several more. One of the vessels flying 
the Stars and Bars was the Robert E. Lee, whose 
master, John Wilkinson, an accomplished officer 
of the rebel navy, was extraordinarily successful 
in dodging the enemy. The Lee was called the 
Giraffe when Wilkinson bought her in England 
for $32,000. At the end of December, 1862, he 
took her into Wilmington, where she was trans- 
ferred to the government and renamed. Under 
Wilkinson's command the Lee ran the blockade 
twenty-six times, bringing valuable cargoes to 
the Confederates and carrying abroad between 
6000 and 7000 bales of cotton valued at about 
$2,000,000 in gold. 

On July 16, 1863, while the L^e was lying in 



THE CIVIL WAR 01 

St. George's Harbour, the Confederate cruiser 
Florida came in, with the Wachusett close on her 
heels. The Florida had sailed from Pemambuco 
early in May, taking many prizes, among them 
the ship B. F. Hoxie, bound from the west coast 
of Mexico to Falmouth, England, with a cargo 
of logwood and $105,000 in silver bars. The silver 
was transferred by bill of sale to the Confederate 
agent and sent to Liverpool by the British brig 
Eagle, and aboard the Lee were placed twenty-one 
chronometers, fourteen quadrants, four sextants, 
twenty-five compasses and other nautical instru- 
ments captured on the cruise, in addition to a 
quantity of tea and coffee, a donation from the 
Florida's crew to the Richmond hospitals. 

Officers of the Florida and Wachusett studi- 
ously refrained from recognizing one another, 
but the crews fraternized in public houses with 
that degree of amiability which sailors can always 
assume. Maffitt, who commanded the Florida, 
carried out his intention of avoiding an engage- 
ment by going to sea, but before leaving he 
received the first and only salute tendered the 
Confederate flag in Bermuda. Anxious for the 
honour, he sounded the military commandant on 
the subject, and after learning that a salute of 
twenty-one guns would be returned he burned up 
his powder and received an answer, gun for gun, 



92 BERMUDA PAST AND PRESENT 

the Confederate flag flying from the signal station 
at Fort George. 

The Florida took so much coal that the Lee 
could get scarcely enough to carry her to Wil- 
mington. Wilkinson, however, reached there 
safely, came out again with a full cargo, and was 
chased, circumstances having forced him to use 
an inferior quality of North Carolina coal, which 
smoked profusely but would not make steam. The 
Lee lost ground steadily, and it seemed as if she 
must be caught, so rapidly did her pursuer come 
up. As a last resort Wilkinson told his engineer 
to throw cotton saturated with turpentine into 
the furnaces, and through this device he escaped, 
bringing to Bermuda a large amount of Con- 
federate gold. When he was detached from the 
Lee at the end of 1863, he apparently took her 
luck with him, and she fell into the hands of the 
Federals on her next voyage. 

Bermuda saw the Florida twice again, in May 
and June of 1864. On her last visit Morris, to 
whom Maffit had rehnquished command, effected 
repairs to the ship and obtained coal supplies 
and money necessary for a long cruise. After- 
ward she lay off the islands and boarded incoming 
vessels before resuming her famous voyage of 
destruction to Bahia. In the case of this 
vessel the Alabama Claims Tribunal held Great 



THE CIVIL WAR 93 

Britain responsible for a violation of the neutrality 
laws. 

A few months after Wilkinson left the Lee he 
went to Bermuda and took charge of the Whisper, 
a new steamer just out from England. In his 
" Narrative of a Blockade Runner " he relates 
that freights at this time had advanced to such a 
point that £500 sterling was charged for a small 
box of medicines which he stowed in his cabin, 
the only available place left for cargo. Within 
twenty-four hours after the Whisper sailed for 
Wilmington five other steamers took their depar- 
ture for the same port. All met heavy weather 
and the Whisper was the only one to land her 
cargo; the others were either captured or driven 
ashore. 

On October 29, 1864, Wilkinson left Wihning- 
ton with the Chick amauga, which was fitted out 
as a cruiser and manned by a crew of " dock 
rats " and other worthies. Under the name Edith 
she had previously run the blockade from the 
islands, but as the Chick amauga she received scant 
courtesy on her arrival there on November 7, 
with a record of having destroyed several Ameri- 
can merchantmen. Protests from the American 
consul prevented Wilkinson from obtaining the 
coal he needed for a long cruise, with the result 
that he was forced back to Wilmington. 



94 BERMUDA PAST AND PRESENT 

The Confederacy was fast losing ground; its 
armies were starving, and the services of the re- 
doubtable Wilkinson were again called into play. 
He was told to take the Tallahassee to Bermuda 
and return with a cargo of provisions. He did 
not hesitate, but first he had to purge the ship of 
her aliases. The Bermudians knew her as the 
Atlanta, a blockade runner; the Confederate navy 
as the Olustee and Tallahassee, a cruiser. Wil- 
kinson dismounted her guns, and she received the 
ironic yet appropriate name of Chameleon, with 
an elaborate set of merchant papers. Thoroughly 
" whitewashed," as they said at the time, she 
passed the scrutiny of the Bermuda authorities, 
obtained her cargo, and was off again to Wilming- 
ton. She actually lay under the guns of Fort 
Fisher, whose energetic commander. Col. Wil- 
liam Lamb, " the guardian angel," had saved so 
many blockade runners from destruction, before 
Wilkinson discovered that the Federals were at 
last in control. He promptly turned the Chame- 
leon around and ran out for the last time, going 
straight to Nassau. Maffitt of the Owl (the 
Florida's old commander) had a similar adven- 
ture and returned to St. George's, his sailing 
port. There were others, too, some of which were 
captured. 

Bermuda had a visit late in 1864 from the no- 



THE CIVIL WAR 95 

torious John C. Braine, whose manner of captur- 
ing vessels was that of the pirate. Braine and 
John Parker, whose real name was V. G. Locke, 
and a party of eight men, boarded the American 
mail steamer Roanoke as she was about to leave 
Havana for New York on September 29. They 
had tickets and passports and seemed to be genu- 
ine passengers. That night, at sea, Braine and 
his men, who proved to be Confederates, over- 
powered Captain Drew and the Roanoke*s officers, 
the majority of whom were asleep in their berths, 
killed the carpenter by shooting, wounded the 
third engineer, and took possession of the ship. 
All of the company, excepting the firemen, were 
put in irons. 

After rifling the ship's safe of $21,000 Braine 
laid a course for Bermuda. He anchored in Five 
Fathom Hole on the evening of October 4 and im- 
mediately went to St. George's in a pilot boat. 
Early next morning he returned with several men 
and took the Roanoke to sea. The following even- 
ing she came to anchor again and was boarded by 
another party of men, who brought information 
to the effect that a brig would come out with coal 
and provisions for the steamer. For the second 
time the Roanoke stood off to sea, returning again 
on the night of October 6, just as the brig Village 
Girl came out of port. October 7 was spent in 



96 BERMUDA PAST AND PRESENT 

an effort to transport supplies from brig to 
steamer, Braine having arranged for another brig 
to take the passengers, forty in number, to Hali- 
fax. This vessel, the Mathilde, flying Danish 
colours, hove in sight that night, and received 
the Roanohe^s passengers and crew, excepting three 
men, who were in irons. 

It was Braine's plan to have the Roanoke navi- 
gated to Wilmington by a Captain Reid and R. E. 
N. Boggs, a Bermuda blockade runner, but the sea 
was so rough that it was impossible to accomplish 
the task of coaling, and the steamer lay in the 
anchorage on the evening of October 8, with 
only a few tons in her bunkers. Without coal 
the Roanoke was useless, and Braine knew that 
she would be detained if she entered a Bermuda 
harbour, because the American consul was already 
addressing protests to the Governor; so without 
any preliminaries the buccaneering skipper de- 
cided to set her afire and proceed to land in a 
boat. Boggs was aboard when the torch was ap- 
plied, and in a moment of deviltry he thought for 
once in his life he would take a shot at what he 
termed a " live man." Standing before the saloon 
mirror, he aimed a bullet at the heart of his own 
reflection, shattering the glass into atoms. In 
a few minutes flames were leaping from the 
Roanoke, 



THE CIVIL WAR 97 

Braine and his followers were taken into court, 
but upon producing commissions from the Con- 
federate Government, said to have been manu- 
factured over night, they were released after a 
perfunctory hearing, despite the protests of Con- 
sul Allen, who declared they had committed an 
act of piracy against the country. By a similar 
ruse Braine and other men, including Parker, 
had captured the steamer Chesapeake in De- 
cember, 1863, off Cape Cod, taking her to 
Halifax, and escaping from the custody of the 
authorities. Braine was accounted a pirate by 
the United States and was arrested in New York 
in 1866, but the charges against him were never 
pressed. 

A more sinister figure than Braine came to Ber- 
muda from Halifax about the same time in the 
person of Dr. Luke P. Blackburn, who purported 
to be a physician of New Orleans. He was, by 
the way, an acquaintance of Braine. Yellow fever 
was then sweeping over the colony and devas- 
tating the crews of blockade runners. By asserting 
that he had a special knowledge of the disease, 
Blackburn was able to co-operate with the local 
physicians and sanitary officers, and he was ex- 
tremely active in assisting all plans for checking 
the epidemic. He refused offers of a pecuniary 
nature, either for his services or for expenses he 

7 



98 BERMUDA PAST AND PRESENT; 

incurred, and the people were genuinely sorry 
when he returned to Halifax at the end of a month. 
Little did they suspect that he was concerned in 
a diabolical plot to collect the clothing of fever 
patients for distribution in New York and other 
Northern cities during the coming summer. 

Details of the affair reached Consul Allen in 
April, 1865, through a spy, who told a circum- 
stantial story of the location of the clothing and 
its owner. Mr. Allen communicated with the 
health officer, and the matter was laid before the 
Corporation of St. George's. While the meeting 
was in progress, a member of the Corporation, 
who happened to be a strong Southern sympa- 
thiser and a traitor to his associates, signalled to 
a Confederate spy outside the window. That in- 
dividual lost no time in notifying the guardian 
of the clothing, a man named Swan, that trouble 
was in the air. The suspicions of the Corporation 
were aroused by the peculiar actions of the traitor- 
ous member, and a committee was appointed to 
search the suspected house, which was reached at 
the moment Swan was preparing to burn the 
damaging articles. 

The clothing consisted of blankets, sheets, 
underwear, handkerchiefs, stained with " black 
vomit"; a number of new garments, and many 
poultices, the latter being distributed with a view 



THE CIVIL WAR 99 

of incubating the germs, if any existed. There 
were three trunks, one of which was labelled " St. 
Louis Hotel, Upper Town, Quebec " ; another 
" Clifton House, Niagara Falls, Canada Side." 
At the request of Mr. Allen the clothing was 
taken to the quarantine station at Nonsuch Island 
and buried with a solution of oil of vitriol. 

Swan was sent to jail for "harbouring a nui- 
sance," but his employer had long since been 
out of the law's reach. The chain of evidence 
was too strong to absolve Blackburn. He had 
gathered and brought the clothing to the storage 
place and had hired the caretaker. So much was 
proved beyond a shadow of doubt. Whether he 
acted purely on his own initiative in a spirit of 
misguided patriotism, or whether he was a gov- 
ernment tool, are points not entirely clear. In 
reporting the affair to Washington, Consul Allen 
said he believed that Dr. Blackburn's expenses had 
been paid with funds from the rebel treasury. 

That so horrible a scheme should have received 
official approval seems hardly conceivable, yet 
Thomas E. Taylor, in his book, "'Running the 
Blockade," cites an instance which shows that 
there were official hands willing to take up the 
desperate game. Taylor, famous for his exploits 
with Banshee, Night Hamk, and Will-o^-the-Wisp, 
says an " eminent Confederate military doctor pro- 



100 BERMUDA PAST AND PRESENT 

posed to me during the prevalence of the yellow 
fever epidemic that he should ship by our boats 
to Nassau and Bermuda sundry cases of infected 
clothing, which were to be sent to the North with 
the idea of spreading the disease there. This was 
too much, and I shouted to him, not in the choicest 
of language, to leave the office." This incident 
probably took place at Wilmington, where " yellow 
jack " caused frightful mortality. 

In view of the modern theory of yellow fever 
transmission, Blackburn's plan, or any other plan, 
might have proved abortive, even though the de- 
tails had been carried out; but this can have no 
bearing on the atrocious motive. 

The exposure of Blackburn and the OwVs re- 
turn were the last exciting incidents of the war, 
so far as Bermuda was concerned. The fall of 
Wilmington was a stupefying blow to the Ber- 
mudians. Their faith in the ultimate success of 
the Confederacy had never been shaken; pros- 
perity had blinded them to the palpable weaknesses 
of the South. But now they faced the abrupt 
ending of a business on which they had thrived 
for four years. The market for their large stocks 
of goods had disappeared overnight, and with it 
the picturesque fleet of blockade runners. Having 
played the game to the limit, ships and men de- 
serted St. George's as rats desert a doomed ship, 



THE CIVIL WAR 101 

and the townspeople were left to count their 
losses. 

They were mostly losses. A few of the far-seeing 
merchants came out of the wreck with fattened 
bank accounts ; the maj ority shouldered a burden 
of debt which took years to liquidate ; and to this 
day you may find in St. George's traces of that 
financial demolition which came about when Wil- 
mington was lost to the Confederacy. 

The growth and extent of blockade running 
and its influence upon the imports and revenue are 
seen in the following tables : 

Vessels entebed and cleared 

1860 1861 1862 1863 1864 1865 

HamUton . 107 136 176 140 158 121 

St. George's 80 84 138 247 367 143 

Total ... 187 220 314 387 525 264 

Grand Total of 1897 Vessels in the Years op the Wab 

Imforts 

1860 1861 1862 1863 1864 1865 

£152,887 £164,503 £238,932 £321,427 £371,084 £200,983 

$764,435 $822,515 $1,194,660 $1,607,135 $1,855,420 $1,004,915 

Revenue 

1860 1861 1862 1863 1864 1865 

£11,210 £10,245 £13,135 £16,251 £19,642 £24,079 
$56,050 $51,225 $65,675 $81,255 $98,210 $120,395 

The colony derived no revenue from the im- 
mense consignments of munitions of war, pro- 



102 BERMUDA PAST AND PRESENT 

visions, medicine, clothing, and cotton landed there 
for transshipment, as all merchandise of this de- 
scription came in bond and was not even subjected 
to a landing tax. Increase of taxable importations 
was due to the heavy demands for marketable 
goods made upon local merchants by blockade 
runners and by the natives who indulged in 
speculative ventures. 



CHAPTER Vni 

OEIGIN OF THE ISLANDS CLIMATE AND 

CHAEACTERISTICS 

Countless ages ago the rugged crest of a huge 
submarine mountain, rising some fifteen thousand 
feet from the ocean floor, became the abode of 
myriads of lime-secreting corals which, in the 
course of a period only to be reckoned in terms 
of geology, strengthened, expanded, and raised 
the structure until at last there arose above tide- 
water numbers of sandy beaches composed of the 
shells of tiny dead mollusks, which had been 
ground into atoms by the waves after giving their 
lives, generation by generation, to the work of 
reef building. Then the winds took up the task, 
drifting these broken shells, whose substance was 
carbonate of lime, into sand dunes, which, as they 
grew in height and became hills, were bound to- 
gether and converted into rock through chemical 
action superinduced by the percolation of rain 
water. 

By this process was evolved the Bermudas, a 
series of aeolian or wind-built limestone islands, 
with hills and valleys and water spaces, the whole 
covering the greater part of the area enclosed 



104 BERMUDA PAST AND PRESENT 

within the existing outer barrier reef or coral 
atoll. As the islands grew older they were cov- 
\ ered by red soil — the residue of decomposed lime- 
stone — and to this migrating birds and ocean 
currents brought their tribute of seeds. A mantle 
of vegetation crept over the country to beautify 
and increase its fertility, but it was decreed that 
the islands should not remain inviolate. As the 
ages rolled by much of the land disappeared be- 
neath water, and when the period of subsidence 
ceased there was left only a remnant — the Ber- 
mudas substantially as we see them to-day, 19% 
square miles or about 12,373 acres. 

The group takes the form of a fish hook, St. 
George's Island at the east end forming the be- 
ginning of the shaft, Ireland Island at the west 
representing the curve. On all sides lie the reefs, 
a closely-knit, formidable barrier of rock — the 
most northerly coral structure in the world. It 
assumes the appearance of an ellipse, with the 
axis running from northeast to southwest, and 
is about twenty-two miles long and eleven broad 
in its widest spot. On the south or weather side 
the breakers follow the shore line at a distance of 
a few hundred yards ; on the north side they stand 
out seven miles or more from land, with North 
Rock, a gaunt vestige of ancient Bermuda, as the 
most prominent feature. Not until the navigator 



ORIGIN OF THE ISLANDS 105 

arrives off the eastern extremity does he find the 
one surveyed and buoyed passage giving access 
to the coral belt. Through this he must pass in 
order to reach any anchorage or harbor. The 
reefs therefore serve two purposes: they afford 
protection against ocean's ravages and form a 
natural line of submarine defences. 

Full advantage has been taken of the hydro- 
graphic characteristics in planning the fortifica- 
tions, for it must be remembered that Bermuda 
is the strategic centre of the North America and 
West Indies station, and as such an important 
link in the British Empire's chain of; military 
strongholds. The tortuous Main Ship Channel — 
the passage mentioned above — is practically im- 
passable at night and is commanded throughout 
its length of two miles by the guns of several forts 
on St. George's and St. David's Islands. The 
town of St. George's lies over the hills, hidden 
within the fish hook is the dockyard at Ireland 
Island, twelve miles up the north side; while 
across the Great Sound from the dockyard is 
Hamilton, the capital, and its harbour, even more 
safely ensconced. To assail these places would 
not be an easy task, if a defending fleet were 
at hand. 

But what of Bermuda itself.? First the mind 
should be disabused of a common and ill-founded 



106 BERMUDA PAST AND PRESENT 

fallacy. Bermuda has no geo^aphical connection 
with the West Indies. It lies in the latitude of 
Charleston, South Carolina, far above the tropical 
zone, the exact bearings of the dockyard being lat. 
S2° 19' north, long. 64° 49' west. The distance 
between New York and Bermuda, counting from 
dock to dock, is 704 nautical miles ; from Sandy 
Hook, where the voyage begins, to St. David's 
Head 666 miles intervene. Halifax, N. S., is about 
720 nautical miles from the group; Cape Hat- 
teras, the nearest point of the continent, is 625 
miles distant. 

It cannot be denied that the Bermuda voyage 
has its discomforts, particularly if the Gulf 
Stream, whose southern edge is 293 miles from 
the islands, be churned to anger. But without 
this strange body of warm water to take the sting 
from the winter gales Bermuda would be unable 
to boast of a sub-tropical climate which suffers 
no extremes or sudden changes of temperature. 
In winter the mercury ranges about 68 de- 
grees and seldom falls below 50; in summer it 
rarely climbs above 86 in the shade, the average 
mean temperature for the year being about 70 
degrees. The rainfall is heavy and generally dis- 
tributed, but the porous soil is nothing more than 
a huge sponge which soaks up water so rapidly 
that all traces of a downpour are removed within 



ORIGIN OF THE ISLANDS 107 

a few hours. While the dimate Is not suitable 
in all respects to persons with weak lungs, neither 
fog nor frost occurs, and the extreme purity of the 
sea air forbids the intrusion of diseases which find 
a medium in miasmatic atmosphere. " Malaria 
unknown," a phrase commonly applied to Ber- 
muda, is wholly true. There is not a suspicion of 
aerial poison — the porosity of the soil is a 
guarantee against unwholesome emanations. 

Meteorological conditions on the Atlantic sea- 
board naturally influence the winter and spring 
weather. October, November, and December are 
usually delightful months ; in January, February, 
and March the weather becomes cooler and there 
are dry, bracing periods in which light overcoats, 
blankets, and occasional open fires are comforts 
not to be despised. April, May, and June are 
wonderfully calm and pleasant, and! then come 
the southern breezes of summer. The heat of 
July, August, and September is relieved by fre- 
quent showers, and though the sun beats down 
with surprising intensity, causing a dazzling glare 
from the white roads and houses, summer temper- 
atures actually do not reach the heights which 
New York experiences. 

Withal the climate Is healthy, none Is more so — 
a statement that is made without reserve. Per- 
haps Its best recommendation is the longevity of 



108 BERMUDA PAST AND PRESENT 

the people. That fact speaks not for the climate 
alone, but for the environment in which their Hves 
are spent. Theirs is a land of perpetual deHght 
to the eye, a little world unto itself, law-abiding, 
peaceful, breeding contentment and hospitality. 
Its pleasures are the joys of out of doors; its 
keynote of life, simplicity. Why wonder if the 
'Mudians live long and " die of nothing in par- 
ticular," as they say themselves.? 

Bermuda is a miniature as to colour and form. 
Its highest hill is but 260 feet above sea level, its 
lowest island is a water-washed rock. A popular 
tradition holds that the islands number S65, one 
for every day in the year; actually, there are not 
more than 150, a comparatively few of which are 
inhabited. Their setting is a sea as changeable 
as the opal, and so transparent that twenty feet 
below its surface the eye may follow the coral 
world and its denizens. Over the white bottom,, 
near the shore the water is shaded into delicate 
greens ; over the shoals it assumes brownish hues ; 
beyond the reefs it varies from bright blue, the 
blue of sapphire, to deep green. Scarcely for a 
moment is its colour fixed ; a ruffling of the surface, 
a shadow, a different slant of sunlight — each is 
sufficient to deepen or brighten the tone, so rapid 
is the prismatic play. 

All the colour is not on the surface. Look be- 



ORIGIN OF THE ISLANDS 109 

neath, through the glass bottom of your boat, as 
it drifts idly over the submarine gardens. Tall 
black rods and purple sea fans, having root in 
the sandy floor, rise upward and wave gracefully 
in the tide, like tree ferns swept by mild zephyrs. 
Weeds of many colours, scarlet and green sponges, 
clusters and sprays of white coral, spiny sea eggs, 
bulky sea puddings — the Chinaman's delicacy — 
are scattered about promiscuously, and to ledges 
of rock, coated sometimes in pink, cling brilliant 
anemones and more strange weeds, delicate alike 
in shade and texture. 

There is constant play of fishes. The spotted 
moray coils its length in a coral cavity to watch 
its prey; grey snappers lurk in the shade of an 
overhanging shoal; the fishing fish, motionless 
beside the scarlet sponge, of which it seems a 
part, sets its baited rod above its mouth to lure 
harmless shrimps. Gorgeous parrot fishes ; angels, 
fringed with gold; jaunty sergeant majors, bear- 
ing stripes of rank; dainty four eyes, red squir- 
rels, white and yellow grunts, schools of silvery 
fry pass in review, and occasionally, if hunger be 
pressing, the octopus, ever ready to baffle an 
enemy by changing colour, is seen to spread its 
repulsive tentacles for the unwary crab. It is all 
very unique, and deceptive, too, for the trans- 
parency of the water makes every living object 
seem almost at arm's length. 



no BERMUDA PAST AND PRESENT 

By contrast the beauties of the country are none 
the less alluring. Grandeur of mountain scenery 
is absent, rivers and lakes have no place in the 
ensemble, but the undulating land is ever chang- 
ing in its aspect, romantic in its whimsical vistas. 
The larger inhabited islands are from one to three 
miles in width, terminating on their ocean sides 
in abrupt cliffs, undermined by the surf, curiously 
eroded, carved into fantastic columns, cloisters 
and arches, like the ruins of ancient shrines — 
breeding places, be it said, of the shy tropic bird 
or longtail. 

Less precipitous is the shore line of the sheltered 
sounds and bays, studded with dainty islets, broken 
by sandy coves, or fringed with dense thickets of 
mangrove. Here the water is calm and glass-like, 
a crystal mirror, reflecting faithfully the pano- 
rama of hill and dale, so richly clad in sub-tropical 
vegetation. The cedar or juniper is the most 
conspicuous and useful tree. Without it Ber- 
muda would be barren and uninhabitable. It at- 
tracts the rain, catches the salt spray that accom- 
panies the gales, protects the farmer's " patches " 
of productive soil. It is, moreover, a durable and 
ornamental wood, excellent for building purposes 
and those of the craftsman. 

From an artistic viewpoint the cedar's dark, 
thick foliage is merely a background for brighter, 



ORIGIN OF THE ISLANDS 111 

more diversified flora. Bermuda justly earns its 
title, " Land of the Lily and the Rose." It is a 
wild flower garden at all seasons, supporting not 
only tropical trees and shrubs, but many from 
temperate climes, excepting those which require 
the resting period of frost. From January until 
May rose borders are abloom; at Eastertide the 
far-famed lily carpets the ground by acres and 
perfumes the air — an emblem of purity, serene 
and fair, a pleasing substitute for snow. April 
sees the oleander arrayed in pink and crimson, a 
riotous and splendid growth, sending its roots 
deep into the rock. The hedges, twenty feet 
high, serve as wind breaks, and hold their blos- 
soms for nine months. Cattle will not touch ole- 
ander on account of the poison in its leaves ; it 
thrives undisturbed, increasing its area constantly. 
There is no end to the flowers. Morning glory 
drapes its purple bells over cedars, wild passion 
vines trail across the rocks ; wherever there is 
moisture and a handful of soil the life plant sends 
up shoots laden with " floppers." Pin a leaf 
against a wall, watch it sprout, and cease to wonder 
why the word " life " is applied to this little plant. 
Lantana, topped with yellow and red, grows side 
by side with fennel and the native sage bush; in 
pockets of sand, hard by the water, sea lavender, 
sea marigold, and prickly pear find nourishment. 



lU BERMUDA PAST AND PRESENT 

There are hedges of Spanish bayonet, for- 
midable as chevaux-de-frise, hedges of acalypha 
(match-me-if-you-can), and flowering pomegran- 
ate; clumps of broad-leaved bananas, groups of 
palmetto, an indigenous palm, out of whose rust- 
ling leaves hats are made. Avocado pears and 
seaside grape trees (not vines) are numerous 
enough to attract attention ; and any man's prop- 
erty are the fiddlewood, mulberry, pride of India, 
pigeon berry, American aloe, and curious pawpaw, 
with its summit crowned by golden fruit, a remedy 
for indigestion. In the glades silk spiders weave, 
and birds of bright plumage, harmonising with 
the flowers, make sport. The cardinal's cheerful 
call is the daybreak signal, and in the morning 
chorus there are notes of bluebird, ground dove, 
chick-of-the-village, goldfinch, and catbird. There 
are no snakes, and if insects are numerous the 
only one to be feared is the centipede, whose bite 
is easily cured. 

When the colonists turned their tribal paths, 
winding over and among the hills, into highways, 
they dug into the solid white rock, as engineers 
cut a bed for steel rails, creating a road system 
that has peculiar features. One minute you may 
be on a level stretch, beside the sea ; the next may 
carry you through a deep cutting with cedars 
meeting overhead in a natural bower to shade the 



ORIGIN OF THE ISLANDS 113 

maidenhair fern that clings to damp crevices of 
the walls. There are not six places in the islands 
where you can gaze ahead on the road for five 
hundred yards; thus you meet unexpected pic- 
tures, generally including glimpses of water, at 
every turn. 

The freeholds are partitioned by stone walls, 
between which on hillside and in valley are pockets 
of brick-red soil, the " patches " of onions, pota- 
toes, arrowroot, celery, lilies, and parsley. The 
green of the standing crops is a relief after 
the sombre cedar, and at the end of harvest 
it is supplanted by golden sprays of wild mustard, 
effective while they last and a contrast to the domi- 
nating reds of the flowers. Cottages stand half 
hidden among the cedars, and as likely as not 
you will find near-by quarries from which builders 
took the stone for them. If anything causes the 
stranger to pause, it is a quarry where men are 
chiselling out big square blocks, while others, with 
heavy hand saws, are cutting the stone into build- 
ing sizes and roof slate. The stone is nothing 
more than a matrix of broken shells, and one won- 
ders how a substance soft as cheese can be used 
for building purposes. But there is no secret in 
utilising it. Exposure to air is sufficient to harden 
the stone, and it will last indefinitely. The ma- 
jority of Bermuda houses are from fifty to one 

8 



114 BERMUDA PAST AND PRESENT 

hundred and fifty years old, and more solid than 
the day they were occupied. Construction of 
wooden buildings is forbidden within town limits; 
probably there are not more than a dozen except- 
ing military structures in the colony. As the 
stone successfully resists heat, destructive fires 
are virtually eliminated. 

Mark Twain once said of the Bermuda house: 
" It is exactly the white of the icing of a cake and 
has the same unemphasised and scarcely percepti- 
ble polish." That description will probably hold 
for all time. The white stone is eminently suited 
to the climate. It is cheap, makes a substantial, 
cool, dry house, and no material could be cleaner. 
There is nothing strikingly beautiful about the 
houses, but they seem to fit into their surround- 
ings. The Bermudian of older days was a ship- 
wright, not an architect. He introduced ship- 
building ideas into the construction of his houses 
and churches, locking the cedar beams into the 
masonry as if he intended they should resist the 
battering of waves; building big chimneys and 
stone porches. He looked for comfort rather than 
beauty and developed his house in accordance with 
the means at his disposal. He never went above 
two stories, always made a sloping roof to catch 
rain water for household uses, and added a 
verandah if he could afford it. He believed in 



ORIGIN OF THE ISLANDS 115 

plenty of windows, to which he affixed green 
blinds that pushed outward, thus assuring better 
protection from the sun than any awning could 
give. Generally speaking, he created a comfort- 
able dwelling. On his voyages abroad he pro- 
cured trees and plants for his domain, this being 
the way in which Bermuda gained many foreign 
growths that are now common. Every house has 
its garden, and nearly every garden has a tree 
or shrub that somebody's grandfather brought 
from the West Indies, or perhaps it was the Med- 
iterranean or Brazil. 



CHAPTER IX 

LITERARY ASSOCIATIONS 

Washington Irving, sailing past the Bermudas 
on a peaceful day, could hardly realise those 
islands as " the still-vexed Bermoothes " of Shake- 
speare, " once the dread of mariners, and infamous 
in the narratives of the early discoverers for the 
dangers and disasters which beset them." In his 
" Knickerbocker Miscellanies " Irving describes the 
wreck of Sir George Somers, not very accurately, 
to be sure, and tells the amusing story of " The 
Three Kings of Bermuda and Their Treasure of 
Ambergris." He surmises that the story of the 
shipwreck and subsequent events on the lonely isl- 
ands may have furnished Shakespeare with some 
of the elements of his drama of " The Tempest," 
saying iSnally: 

" But above all, in the three fugitive vagabonds 
who remained in possession of the island of Ber- 
muda, on the departure of their comrades, and in 
their squabbles about supremacy, on the finding 
of their treasure, I see typified Sebastian, Trin- 
culo, and their worthy companion Caliban. . . . 
I do not mean to hold up the incidents and char- 
acters in the narrative and in the play as parallel, 



LITERARY ASSOCIATIONS 117 

or as being strikingly similar: neither would I in- 
sinuate that the narrative suggested the play; I 
would only suppose that Shakespeare, being occu- 
pied about that time on the drama of the ' Tem- 
pest,' the main story of which, I believe, is of 
Italian origin, had many of the fanciful ideas of 
it suggested to his mind by the shipwreck of Sir 
George Somers on the ' still vext Bermoothes,' and 
by the popular superstitions connected with these 
islands, and suddenly put in circulation by that 
event." 

It would be unseemly for an humble writer to 
enter the long-standing controversy over the 
origin of " The Tempest," or to attempt to prove 
that Shakespeare must have had knowledge of 
the picturesque tracts written by Jordan and 
Strachy, but one may quote Lefroy without 
apology : 

" The question whether Shakespeare had the 
Isla de Demonios in view in writing the ' Tem- 
pest' can scarcely be passed over in treating of 
the Bermudas. That the play does not contain a 
single plain allusion, and very few phrases, which, 
taken apart from their context, have a local colour, 
is very apparent. The flight of his fancy also di- 
vided ' the still vexed Bermoothes ' from the isl- 
and of Prospero by perhaps an imaginary sev- 
erance; but it was in his time believed that the 



118 BERMUDA PAST AND PRESENT 

true Bermudas were another group not now to be 
found; and not only are the early accounts very 
imperfectly descriptive, but it is also obvious that 
to look for attention to details in such a flight of 
glorious invention would be dull in the last degree. 
Malone was assuredly right in considering the 
circumstances attending the storm by which Sir 
George Somers was wrecked as having suggested 
the title and some of the incidents of the play." 

Lefroy quotes two passages which, he asserts, 
go far to prove that William Strachy's narrative, 
published before the drama's appearance, was the 
one the poet had before him. As Lefroy indicates, 
Strachy's description of " clamours drowned in the 
winds and the winds in thunder," might readily 
have suggested these lines: 

"... Jove's lightnings, the precursors 

O' the dreadful thunderclaps, more momentary 

And sight-outrunning were not . . . 

The fire and cracks 
Of sulphurous roaring, the most mighty Neptune 
Seemed to besiege, and make his bold waves tremble. 
Yea, his dread trident shake." 

The second' passage is plainly an allusion to 
St. Elmo's Fire, which Somers called his shipmates 
to observe: 

*'I boarded the king's ship: now on the beak. 
Now in the waist, the deck, in every cabin 



LITERARY ASSOCIATIONS 119 

I flamed amazement : sometimes I 'd divide 
And bm-n in many places : on the topmast, 
The yards, and bowsprit, would I flame distinctly. 
Then meet, and join." 

There is also a little touch of submarine Ber- 
muda in the sea-dirge of the airy spirit Ariel: 

"Full fathom five thy father lies; 
Of his bones are coral made; 
Those are the pearls that were his eyes; 
Nothing of him that doth fade. 
But doth suffer a sea-change 
Into something rich and strange. 
Sea-nymphs hourly ring his knell. 
Hark ! now I hear them, — ding-dong bell." 

We may leave " The Tempest " with a quota- 
tion from Kipling, who knows his Bermuda al- 
most as well as other corners of the Empire. 
Writing to the Spectator in 1898, he said: 

" May I cite Malone's suggestion connecting 
the play with the casting away of Sir George 
Somers on the island of Bermuda in 1609; and 
further may I be allowed to say how it seems to 
me possible that the vision was woven from 
the most prosaic material, — from nothing more 
promising, in fact, than the chatter of a half- 
tipsy sailor at a theatre.?^ . . . Much, doubtless, 
he discarded, but so closely did he keep to his 
original information that those who go to-day 



120 BERMUDA PAST AND PRESENT 

to a certain beach ^ some two miles from Hamilton 
will find the stage set for Act II. Scene 2 of 
' The Tempest,' — a bare beach, with the wind 
singing through the scrub at the land's edge, a 
gap in the reefs wide enough for the passage 
of Stephano's butt of sack, and (these eyes have 
seen it) a cave in the coral within easy reach of 
the tide, whereto such a butt might be conveniently 
rolled (' My cellar is in a rock by the seaside 
where my wine is hid'). There is no other cave 
for some two miles. ' Here 's neither bush nor 
shrub ' ; one is exposed to the wrath of ' yoijd 
same black cloud,' and here the currents strand 
wreckage. It was so well done that, after three 
hundred years, a stray tripper, and no Shake- 
speare scholar, recognised in a flash that old first 
set of all." 

Edmund Waller's name has been associated with 
Bermuda through his "Battel of the Summer 
Islands," published in 1645, but there is no record 
to reveal his presence in the islands, notwithstand- 
ing assertions to the contrary. The name Waller 
occurs frequently in Bermuda history, and there 
is a little promontory on St. David's Island called 
Waller's Point, where a gold ring bearing the 
initials E. W. was picked up by a roving boy, 
but such slender evidence is insufficient to prove 

* Possibly Kipling had Spanish Point in mind. 



LITERARY ASSOCIATIONS 121 

that the poet stopped in Bermuda at the time of 
his exile from England. Lefroy states positively 
that Waller was never there and brings proof to 
support his assertion. 

The " Battel of the Summer Islands " relates 
the incidents of a gory fight between two whales 
and a nation, and the fruitfulness of Bermuda is 
glowingly pictured in the first canto. Waller was 
right in speaking of cedar beams of houses and 
liquor made from palmettoes, but when he sang 
of taming savages he drew upon his imagination; 
Bermuda never had an aboriginal inhabitant. 
Lines from the first canto are herewith appended: 

*' Bermuda wall'd with rocks, who does not know 
That happy island, where huge lemons grow; 
And orange trees, which golden fruit do bear. 
The Hisperian garden boasts of none so fair: 
Where shining pearl, coral, and many a pound. 
On the rich shore, of ambergreece is found. 
The lofty cedar, which to heav'n aspires. 
The Prince of trees ! is fewel for their fires : * 

The smoke by which their loaded spits do turn; 
For incense might on sacred altars burn: 
Their private roofs on od'rous timber born. 
Such as might palaces for Kings adorn. 
The sweet palmitoes a new Bacchus yield. 
With leaves as ample as the broadest shield : 
Under the shadows of whose friendly boughs 
They sit, carowsing where their liquor grows. 



U2 BERMUDA PAST AND PRESENT 

Figs there unplanted thro' the fields do grow. 
Such as fierce Cato did the Romans show; 
With the rare fruit inviting them to spoil 
Carthage, the mistress of so rich a soil. 
The naked rocks are not unfruitful there. 
But, at some constant seasons ev'ry year. 
Their barren tops with luscious food abound. 
And with the eggs of various fowls are crown'd. 
Tobacco is the worst of things which they 
To English landlords, as their tribute pay. 
Such is the mould that the blest tenants feeds 
On precious fruits, and pays his rent in weeds ; 
With candy'd plantains, and the juicy pine. 
On choicest melons, and sweet grapes, they dine; 
And with potatoes fat their wanton swine. 
Nature these cates with such a lavish hand 
Pours out among them, that our coarser land 
Tastes of that bounty; and does cloth return. 
Which not for warmth, but ornament is worn: 
For the kind spring, which but salutes us here. 
Inhabits there, and courts them all the year : 
Ripe fruits, and blossoms, on the same trees live: 
At once they promise, what at once they give. 
So sweet the air, so moderate the clime; 
None sickly lives, or dies before his time. 
Heav'n sure has kept this spot of earth uncurst. 
To show how all things were created first ! 

Oh ! how I long my careless limbs to lay 
Under the plaintain's shade, and all the day 
With amorous airs my fancy entertain; 
Invoke the Muses, and improve my vein ! 
No passion there in my free breast should move, 



LITERARY ASSOCIATIONS U3 

None but the sweet and best of passions, love. 

There while I sing, if gentle Love be by 

That tunes my lute, and winds the strings so high; 

With the sweet sound of Sacharissa's name 

I '11 make the list'ning savages grow tame." 

Another literary production, that of Andrew 
Marvel, has no historical basis so far as Bermuda 
is concerned. The islands attracted but three 
prominent Puritans, who probably did not flee 
from " prelates' rage " ; nevertheless, Marvel's 
beautiful " Song of the Emigrants in Bermuda " 
has a high place in English literature. It is given 
here in full: 

*' Where the remote Bermudas ride 
In ocean's bosom unespied. 
From a small boat that rowed along 
The listening waves received this song : — 
*What should we do but sing His praise 
That led us through the watery maze 
Unto an Isle so long unknown. 
And yet far kinder than our own ! 
Where He the huge sea monsters racks 
That lift the deep upon their backs; 
He lands us on a grassy stage. 
Safe from the storms and prelates' rage ? 
He gave us this eternal spring, 
Which here enamels everything; 
And sends the fowls to us in care. 
On daily visits through the air. 



lU BERMUDA PAST AND PRESENT 

He hangs in shades the orange bright. 
Like golden lamps in a green night; 
And does in the pomegranate close 
Jewels more rich than Ormus shows. 
He makes the figs our mouths to meet. 
And throws the melons at our feet; 
But apples plants of such a price. 
No tree could ever bear them twice. 
With cedars chosen by His hand 
From Lebanon, He stores the land. 
And makes the hollow seas that roar 
Proclaim the ambergris on shore. 
He cast (of which we rather boast) 
The Gospel pearl upon our coast. 
And in these rocks for us did frame 
A temple, where to sound His name. 
Oh let our voice His praise exalt. 
Till it arrive at heaven's vault. 
Which thence perhaps resounding, may 
Echo beyond the Mexique bay.' 
Thus sang they in the English boat, 
A holy and a cheerful note. 
And all the way, to guide their chime. 
With falling oars they kept the time." 

The true poet of Bermuda is Thomas Moore, 
that humorous, sentimental Irishman, the poet of 
Erin, too. Tom Moore came to the islands from 
Norfolk, Va., bj the Driver, a Bermuda-built sloop 
of war, in January, 1804, to fill the rather pro- 
saic post of Registrar of the Court of Vice- 
Admiralty. 



LITERARY ASSOCIATIONS 125 

" Oh, what a tempest whirl'd us hither," he 
wrote to George Morgan, an attache of the Brit- 
ish Consulate at Norfolk, by way of describing 
his stormy voyage, and then, 

*"But bless the little fairy isle! 
How sweetly, after all our ills. 
We saw the dewy morning smile 
Serenely o'er its fragrant hills ! 
And felt the pure, elastic flow 
Of airs, that round this Eden blow. 
With honey freshness, caught by stealth. 
Warm from the very lips of health ! 

" ' Oh ! could you view the scenery dear. 
That now beneath my window lies. 
You 'd think, that Nature lavish'd here 
Her purest wave, her softest skies. 
To make a heaven for love to sigh in, 
For bards to live and saints to die in ! 
Close to my wooded bank below 
In glassy calm the waters sleep. 
And to the sun-beam proudly show 
The coral rocks they love to steep ! 

*"The fainting breeze of morning fails. 
The drowsy boat moves slowly past. 
And I can almost touch its sails 
That languish idly round the mast. 
The sun has now profusely given 
The flashes of a noontide heaven. 
And, as the wave reflects his beams. 
Another heaven its surface seems ! 



126 BERMUDA PAST AND PRESENT 

Blue light and clouds of silvery tears 
So pictured o'er the waters lie 
That every languid bark appears 
To float along a burning sky !'* 

Moore soon became enamoured of Bermuda. It 
was no great task for him to sing its praises ; he 
wrote of the things as he saw them — wooded 
islets, limpid water, graceful boats, white cottages, 
which, said he, " assume often the appearance 
of little Grecian temples." His descriptive pic- 
tures were remarkably faithful — what could be 
more so than his verses to the Marchioness 
Dowager ofDonegall? 

"Believe me. Lady, when the zephyrs bland 
Floated our bark to this enchanted land. 
These leafy isles upon the ocean thrown. 
Like studs of emerald o'er a silver zone; 
Not all the charm, that ethnic fancy gave 
To blessed arbours o'er the western wave. 
Could wake a dream, more soothing or sublime. 
Of bowers ethereal and the spirit's clime ! 

"The morn was lovely, every wave was still. 
When the first perfume of a cedar-hill 
Sweetly awaked us, and with smiling charms 
The fairy harbour woo'd us to its arms. 
Gently we stole, before the languid wind. 
Through plantain shades, that like an awning twined 



LITERARY ASSOCIATIONS 127 

And kiss'd on either side the wanton sails, 
Breathing our welcome to these vernal vales; 
While, far reflected o'er the wave serene. 
Each wooded island shed so soft a green, 
That the enamour 'd keel, with whispering play, 
Through liquid herbage seem'd to steal its way ! 
Never did weary bark more sweetly glide. 
Or rest its anchor in a lovelier tide ! 
Along the margin, many a brilliant dome. 
White as the palace of a Lapland gnome, 
Brighten'd the wave; in every myrtle grove 
Secluded bashful, like a shrine of love. 
Some elfin mansion sparkled through the shade; 
And, while the foliage interposing play'd. 
Wreathing the structure into various grace. 
Fancy would love, in many a form, to trace 
The flowery capital, the shaft, the porch. 
And dream of temples, till her kindling torch 
Lighted me back to all the glorious days 
Of Attic genius; and I seemed to gaze 
On marble, from the rich Pentelic mount, 
Gracing the umbrage of some Naiad's fount." 

Though Moore lived at St. George's, he spent 
many idle hours at Walsingham House, the home 
of the Trott family, charmingly situated on the 
banks of a quiet pool, whose waters still reflect 
the outlines of this historic dwelling. And, if a 
winding path among the curious grottoes be fol- 
lowed, you will come to that ancient calabash tree 
under whose branches the poet sat and dreamed 
and wrote. 



U8 BERMUDA PAST AND PRESENT 

*'Last night, when we came from the calabash tree. 
When my limbs were at rest and my spirit was free. 
The glow of the grape and the dreams of the day 
Put the magical springs of my fancy in play; 
And, oh ! such a vision as haunted me then 
I could slumber for ages to witness again! 
The many I like, and the few I adore. 
The friends, who were dear and beloved before. 
But never till now so beloved and dear. 
At the call of my fancy surrounded me here ! 
Soon, soon did the flattering spell of their smile 
To a paradise brighten the blest little isle." 

So run the lines to Joseph Atkinson. 

But it was not romantic scenery alone which 
tempted Moore's poetic fancy, as his " Odes to 
Nea " bear witness. In one of these he pleads : 

"Nay, tempt me not to love again. 
There was a time when love was sweet; 
Dear Nea ! had I known thee then. 
Our souls had not been slow to meet ! " 

Moore's boyish heart — he was only twenty-r 
^ye — was touched, as some believed, or perhaps 
merely fluttered, by Nea — Hester Louisa Tucker, 
the fascinating young wife of William Tucker of 
St. George's. The poet said that the ideal Nea 
of his odes was made out of two " real ones " ; 
nevertheless, his harmless attentions to Mrs. 
Tucker succeeded in arousing the jealousy of her 



LITERARY ASSOCIATIONS 129 

husband, and it is related of the latter that he 
religiously excluded his rival's works from his 
house. But the genial, warm-blooded Irishman 
bore no malice, if one may draw conclusions from 
this rhyme: 

**Well — peace to thy heart, though another's it be, 
And health to thy cheek, though it bloom not for me ! 
To-morrow, I sail for those cinnamon groves 
Where nightly the ghost of the Carribee roves, 
And, far from thine eye, oh ! perhaps, I may yet 
Its seduction forgive and its splendour forget ! 
Farewell to Bermuda, and long may the bloom 
Of the lemon and myrtle its valleys perfume; 
May spring to eternity hallow the shade, 
Where Ariel has warbled and Waller has stray'd ! 
And thou — when, at dawn, thou shalt happen to roam 
Through the lime-cover'd alley that leads to thy home, 
Where oft, when the dance and the revel were done. 
And the stars were beginning to fade in the sun, 
I have led thee along, and have told by the way 
What my heart all the night had been burning to say — 
Oh ! think of the past — give a sigh to those times. 
And a blessing for me to that alley of limes ! " 

The alley of limes has disappeared and Nea's 
childhood home is now a crumbling ruin, but time 
has served to heighten the memories of Moore's 
sojourn, all too brief, as it wels. In April he 
left not for the West Indies but New York, having 
become thoroughly disgusted with his office, which 

9 



130 BERMUDA PAST AND PRESENT 

gave him a pittance instead of the handsome in- 
come he had expected. Unfortunately, he placed 
his aiFairs in the hands of a dishonest deputy, who 
embezzled several thousand pounds, for which the 
poet became responsible in 1818. Fear of im- 
prisonment kept him out of England for two 
years, but the matter was compromised and Moore 
actually retained the office of registrar until 
1844, the authorities then concluding that forty 
years of continued absence from Bermuda was 
sufficient reason for them to supersede him. 

In the autumn of 1858 Anthony TroUope was 
sent to the West Indies to " cleanse the Augean 
stables of our post office system there," he relates 
in his autobiography. He ended his tour of duty 
with a brief visit to Bermuda, a description of 
which appears in " The West Indies and the 
Spanish Main." 

"Looking back at my fortnight's sojourn 
there," he writes, " it seems to me that there can 
be no place in the world as to which there can be 
less to be said than there is about this island- — 
sayings at least of the sort in which it is my 
nature to express itself." 

Trollope disliked the food and climate; he 
complained reasonably about the backwardness of 
agriculture, despite the opportunities afforded 
planters, the islands having " many gifts of ua- 



LITERARY ASSOCIATIONS 131 

ture to recommend them." He found Bermuda 
poor. " Perhaps, I should add," he remarks, 
" that on the whole she is contented with her pov- 
erty. And if so, why disturb such contentment? 
. . . The sleepiness of the people appeared to me 
the most prevailing characteristic of the place. 
. . . To say that they live for eating and drink- 
ing would be to wrong them. They want the 
energy for the gratification of such vicious tastes. 
To live and die would seem to be enough for them. 
To live and die as their fathers and mothers did 
before them, in the same houses, using the same 
furniture, nurtured on the same food, and enjoy- 
ing the same immunity from the dangers of 
excitement." 

Rather an uncomplimentary characterisation, 
but the Bermudians, on their part, regarded 
Trollope as an erratic individual who was more 
fond of sea-baths than hard work; and perhaps 
they neglected to welcome him with their usual 
warmth. However, he could not escape certain 
of Bermuda's charms. He liked the water and the 
" singular way in which the land is broken up 
into narrow necks, islands, and promontories, 
running here and there in a capricious, half- 
mysterious manner. . . . But it is mostly the 
beauty of the sea and not of the land. The 
islands are flat, or at any rate there is no consider- 



132 BERMUDA PAST AND PRESENT 

able elevation in them. They are covered through- 
out with those scrubby little trees [cedars] and 
although the trees are green and, therefore, when 
seen from the sea, give a freshness to the land- 
scape, they are uninteresting and monotonous on 
shore. I must not forget the oleanders. . . . 
The Bermudas might almost be called the olean- 
der isles." 

More appreciative accounts have come from the 
pens of such well-known American authors as 
Mark Twain, the late Charles Dudley Warner, 
and William Dean Howells, all of whom found de* 
light in the oddities of the " Summer Islands." 
Mark Twain's first impressions were obtained in 
1867, when the steamer Quaker City was nearing 
the end of that memorable voyage described in 
" The Innocents Abroad." " A few days among 
the breezy groves," he wrote, " the flower gardens, 
the coral caves, and the lovely vistas of blue water 
that went curving in and out, disappearing and 
anon again appearing through jungle walls of 
brilliant foliage, restored the energies dulled by 
long drowsing on the ocean, and fitted us for our 
final cruise — our little run of a thousand miles 
to New York — America — home." 

Again, in 1877, Mark Twain found Bermuda 
the " tidiest country in the world. And very much, 
the tidiest, too. . . . Bermuda is the right coun- 



LITERARY ASSOCIATIONS 133 

try for a jaded man to 'loaf in. There are no 
harassments ; the deep peace and quiet of the 
country sink into one's body and bones and give 
his conscience a rest, and chloroform the legion of 
invisible small devils that are always trying to 
whitewash his hair." (" Some Rambling Notes of 
an Idle Excursion," Atlantic Monthly.) Many 
times since that was written has Mark Twain 
given " his conscience a rest," by " loafing " in the 
warm sunlight of Bermuda. 

It was in 1894 that Charles Dudley Warner 
recorded his sympathetic observations in Harper^s 
Magazine, saying in the course of a long article: 
" The honoured descendants of the early mariners 
and adventurers, who live here as their family gen- 
erations here lived, with not much to mark their 
lives, and commonly not an inscription to mark 
their resting place in the whitewashed tombs in 
the flower-grown, or sea-lapped, peaceful church- 
yards — these people in their whitei bungalows 
amid semi-tropical gardens are perhaps as con- 
tented as any in the world, and as little disturbed 
by the fluctuations of modern life." 

" What will be said to you when you tell that 
in the Summer Islands one has but to saw a hole in 
his backyard and take out a house of soft, creamy 
sandstone and set it up, and go to living in it.'' " 
asked Howells. " What, when you relate that 



134 BERMUDA PAST AND PRESENT 

among the northern and southern evergreens there 
are deciduous trees which, in a cHme where there 
is no fall or spring, simply drop their leaves when 
they are tired of keeping them on, and put out 
others when they feel like it? What, when you 
pretend that in the absence of serpents there are 
centipedes a span long, and spiders the bigness of 
bats, and mosquitoes that sweetly sing in the 
drowsing air, but bite not; or that there are 
swamps but no streams, and in the marshes stand 
mangrove trees whose branches grow downwards 
into the ooze, as if they wished to get back into 
the earth and pull in after them the holes they 
emerge from." {Harper's Magazine, June, 1901,) 
En passant one cannot forget that the late John 
B. Tabb (Father Tabb, poet and teacher) paid 
several visits to Bermuda while serving as cap- 
tain's clerk in the blockade runner Robert E. 
Lee, commanded by John Wilkinson, C. S. N., one 
of the most successful of all men engaged in 
supplying the Confederates with munitions of 
war. 



CHAPTER X 



POINTS OF INTEREST 



Having no railroads, the Bermudians must neces- 
sarily depend upon horse-drawn vehicles for their 
transportation requirements, and they have not 
overlooked the economic importance of good high- 
ways. The roads are macadamized with crushed 
limestone and present a smooth, almost slippery 
surface, having in many instances concrete gut- 
ters to carry oif the rainfall; but owing to steep 
grades and sharp turns and the restricted area 
of the group, it was deemed advisable in 1908 to 
prohibit the use of motor cars, after a trial last- 
ing several months. A restricted motor 'bus ser- 
vice for mails and passengers or an electric trolley 
road may, however, be estabhshed within a few 
years, as the necessities of the colony seem to 
demand a more rapid mode of transit. 

It is possible to drive from one end of Bermuda 
to the other without ferrying. St. George's is 
joined to the Main or Bermuda proper by a cause- 
way nearly two miles long ; from the Main a suc- 
cession of bridges leads to Somerset, Watford, 
Boaz, and Ireland Islands, thus completing a con- 
tinuous roadway of some twenty-odd miles. Par- 



136 BERMUDA PAST AND PRESENT 

allel and intersecting roads enable one to visit 
almost every point of interest by carriage. For 
the sake of simplicity the different localities are 
set down under separate headings. 

Ireland, Boaz, and Watford 

These islands, reached by steam ferry from 
Hamilton, as well as by road, are devoted to the 
uses of the Imperial Government, and are places 
of activity when the fleet is on the station in 
winter. The trip across the Great Sound and 
Grassy Bay occupies about forty minutes. Long 
ago Boaz was the convict headquarters, but now, 
like Watford, it is simply a military station. 
The dockyard at Ireland is typically British and 
seems more a part of old England than Ber- 
muda. Its limestone machine shops and store- 
houses, erected by convict labour, are substantial 
and almost imposing. In a niche of one build- 
ing hangs a bell supposed to have belonged to 
H. M. S. Shannon, and damaged in her engage- 
ment with the United States frigate Chesapeake 
off Boston, June 1, 1813. Within the Cambre, 
an artificial basin, is anchored a floating dock 
capable of lifting 17,500 tons, — one of the 
largest and most powerful of its kind. It was 
built in England, and towed out in 1902 to super- 
sede the old dock, which now lies, a corroding 



POINTS OF INTEREST 187 

wreck, at Spanish Point. The naval hospital, 
sailors' home, and the cemetery are worth visit- 
ing. From time to time immense sums of money 
have been expended on the dockyard; between 
1902 and 1906 extensive alterations changed the 
whole aspect of the works and completely mod- 
ernised the station. 

To Ireland and to a small islet named Cross 
on its southern shore is attached a legend of 
buried treasure, which was supposed to have been 
hidden by shipwrecked Spaniards before Bermuda 
was settled. In 1691 one Thomas Neale of the 
parish of St. Martin in the Fields, county of 
Middlesex, received by letters patent from King 
William and Queen Mary the right to " all Treas- 
ure Trove and all Treasure of what nature or 
kind soever formerly hidden in the ground or else- 
where in which none of our subjects have prop- 
erty in the Little Island called Ireland nere the 
Island of Bermudas in America or in other of the 
islands or islets . . . always reserving unto Our 
Soveraigne Lord and Lady King William and 
Queen Mary their heirs and successors One full 
Fifth part of all such Treasure Trove " ; but if 
Neale or any one else recovered the spoil they kept 
their counsel. Several affidavits taken in 1693 
speak of the discourses of " old standers," who 
recalled a triangular heap of stones on Ireland 



138 BERMUDA PAST AND PRESENT 

and a yellow wood tree, to which an engraved 
brass plate was affixed; also, a wooden cross on 
Cross Island, with one arm pointing toward 
Spanish Point, on the Main, the other toward 
the mysterious stone pile. In these documents, 
too, are related traditional tales of how the treas- 
ure was buried, and how ancient and credible in- 
habitants had seen phantom ships sail about Cross 
Island and " fire drakes " alight upon it. All of 
which may have had some foundation in fact. 

Somerset 

The greater part of Sandys Parish, named 
after Sir Edwin Sands, one of the original ad- 
venturers and absentee landowners, is included 
within Somerset, reached by the same ferry which 
runs to Ireland. The boat passes through the 
Watford swing bridge and makes a landing in 
Mangrove Bay, near which Captain Ord's powder 
foraging ships anchored. This inlet, with its 
group of rocks in the centre and its broken point 
of land jutting northward on the west shore, is 
one of many for which the island is famed through- 
out the colony. Near by is Long Bay, an exten- 
sive stretch of coralline sand facing the ocean 
and ending at Daniel's Head, which, with its 
island, is virtually land's end. Somerset is largely 
an agricultural community, but fishermen, pilots, 



POINTS OF INTEREST 139 

and persons connected with the naval establish- 
ment live there. Near the main road stands the 
parish church, St. James's, built in 1789 on the 
site of an edifice which had been partly destroyed 
by a gale. It has several memorials, and an organ 
built in accordance with specifications furnished 
by a convict. The road leads through farm land 
until it reaches the little bridge that connects the 
Main. In the centre of the bridge is an oddity 
in the form of a trap door, which when raised gives 
room for the masts of fishing boats passing from 
the Great Sound to Ely's Harbour, where stand 
the Cathedral Rocks, perhaps the most striking 
example of erosion in Bermuda. This achieve- 
ment of wind and water should not be missed. 
Profitable hours may be spent in exploring the 
islands and bays of the beautiful harbour, which 
is partly enclosed by an arm of land on which 
stands Wreck Hill, looking out upon the south- 
west breakers, the graveyard of many fine ships. 

Southampton 

Below that part of Sandys which lies on the 
Main is Southampton, in which the Earl of South- 
ampton held land, hence the name. The north 
road follows the shore of the Little Sound to a 
point near Jew's Bay, where a spur climbs inland 
to Gibb's Hill Lighthouse. The view from the 



140 BERMUDA PAST AND PRESENT 

lighthouse gallery, three hundred and sixty-two 
feet above high water, is a superb panorama. 
Bermuda, all save the eastern parishes, lies at 
your feet. Mentally, you make a topographic 
survey. The eyes sweep across the low islands 
sprawling in disorderly array about the Great 
Sound to the dockyard, to Somerset, to the fringe 
of breakers; thence backward over the hills and 
valleys of Southampton, Warwick, and Paget, 
where the roads wind like white ribbons, and cot- 
tage roofs break through the cedars, resting 
finally upon the city of Hamilton and its heights. 
No view gives a better idea of the Bermuda archi- 
pelago. The lighthouse is a symmetrical iron tower 
resting on a concrete base, the height of the gal- 
lery being 105 feet 9 inches. It is a revolving 
flashlight, burning oil, with an illuminating power 
of 99,930 candles, visible twenty-seven miles in 
clear weather. It was first lighted on May 1, 1846, 
and a new lantern was installed in 1904. A visit 
to Southampton is not complete without a detour 
from the north to the south longitudinal road, 
beginning at the parish church of St. Ann's, by 
the sea, the locality being called Port Royal. Ser- 
vices are held to the accompaniment of the ocean 
surge, which is never subdued. 

A story told about a former rector of St. Ann's 
illustrates the character of the old seafarers here- 



POINTS OF INTEREST 141 

abouts. Not a few Bermuda captains rested under 
the suspicion of being pirates, and when the trade 
of piracy lost its glory they took to the next best 
thing — wrecking. " Lame ducks," as the people 
called distressed vessels, were welcome visitors, and 
when one made a dangerous landfall and drifted 
over the reefs she was quickly surrounded by 
whale-boats and gigs, whose crews revelled in the 
prospect of salvage. Many an unfortunate skipper 
saved ship and cargo only to lose both in satisfy- 
ing the claims of wreckers, and thus Bermuda 
acquired an unsavoury reputation among mariners. 
To this day the signal denoting a sliip passing the 
islands is known as the " starvation flag," al- 
though wrecking long ago ceased to be a lucra- 
tive occupation. But to return to the rector. He 
was preaching fervently one stormy Sunday when 
a man entered St. Ann's and whispered in the ears 
of several members of the congregation, who 
promptly reached for their hats. It did not take 
the rector long to descry signs of uneasiness, and 
he paused to ask : " John Smith, what are you say- 
ing to these people? " 

" Parson," was the reply, " there 's a sMp on 
the southwest breakers." 

Sabbath piety, as the rector knew, must dis- 
appear under the circumstances, and he remarked 
impressively : " The congregation will remain 



142 BERMUDA PAST AND PRESENT 

seated until I take off my surplice, and then, 
boys, we '11 all start fair." 

Warwick 

The Earl of Warwick gave his name to this 
parish, which contains fertile, undulating land, 
luxuriant vegetation, and a variety of scenery. 
A walk or drive should be taken along the south 
shore when a heavy swell is beating against the 
barrier reef, sending torrents of spray across the 
wild rocks and promontories. The Atlantic has 
left deep scars here for two miles or more, and 
such inlets as Sinky Bay, an elliptical rim of sand 
guarded by brown cliffs, are not likely to be passed 
by photographer and artist. Deep valleys on one 
side and bold cliffs on the other characterise War- 
wick Camp, where Tommy Atkins learns to shoot, 
deploy, and take cover, but in traversing this 
region signboards that mark the stray-bullet area 
should be heeded. The Khyber Pass, the deepest 
artificial canon in Bermuda, should not be missed 
while taking the cross roads north again to the 
Presbyterian Church. The kirk was built in 1719, 
but the congregation existed long before that 
date and is supposed to be the oldest of the Pres- 
byterian denomination in any British colony. A 
mural tablet commemorates the services held by 
George Whitfield, a celebrated English evangelist, 



POINTS OF INTEREST 143 

m 1748, and the box pulpit from which he preached 
is preserved. Near bj is St. Mary's, the parish 
church, erected in 1832. Salt Kettle ferry, sug- 
gestive of the days of ships and salt, brings War- 
wick within a few minutes of Hamilton; thus a 
carriage may be dispensed with if short excur- 
sions are in order. 

Paget 

Lord Paget was responsible for the name of 
this parish, a favourite residential district, having 
fine estates with large houses and well-kept gar- 
dens, filled with rare plants and flowers. The 
north shore is the southern boundary of Hamil- 
ton Harbour, crossed by steam ferry. From the 
water's edge and heights at the back an unex- 
celled panoramic view of Hamilton is obtained. 
Paget, like Warwick, is thickly wooded, and the 
vegetation is luxuriant. A favourite drive starts 
at the north road and passes the parish church, 
St. Paul's, the oldest portion of which dates back 
to 1796, eventually reaching Elbow Bay, on the 
south shore, to which bathers resort. But the 
Sand Hills may prove more attractive to a 
stranger. One sees in these high mounds exactly 
the process by which all of Bermuda's hills were 
built. For a half mile or more inshore the fine 
shell sand has been drifted as the wind drifts 



144 BERMUDA PAST AND PRESENT 

snow, covering undergrowth and trees, and in one 
instance burying a house until only the chimney 
remains in sight. Trailing seaside vines and 
bushes have bound the dunes successfully, and 
now the destructive encroachment of sand is halted, 
perhaps permanently. If the drift does not be- 
come active again, the mounds will probably harden 
into rock, showing the irregular stratification that 
is found everywhere. Farther down the coast is 
Hungry Bay, soHtary, weird, fascinating. The 
boilers or coral atolls, circular cups of frothing 
water, stand in close to shore, and on wild days 
the tumble and break of the sea is inspiring. In 
the eastern section of Paget, on the highway to 
Hamilton, is the Public Garden, where the gov- 
ernment carries on experimental work. The re- 
sults obtained here in field and greenhouse fully 
prove that Bermuda might be made more beauti- 
ful and prosperous if scientific methods of farm- 
ing were general. 

Pembroke Parish and the City of HAMiiiTON 

Pembroke is entered from Paget at the head of 
Crow's Lane, another name for the harbour. The 
first conspicuous objects are the royal palms at 
Pembroke Hall, almost on the water's edge. 
" These were not the largest or the tallest trees 
I have ever seen," wrote Mark Twain more than 



POINTS OF INTEREST 145 

thirty years ago, " but they were the stateliest, 
the most majestic. That row of them must be 
the nearest that Nature has ever come to counter- 
feiting a colonnade. . . . Other palm trees always 
lean out of the perpendicular, or have a curve in 
them. But a plumb line could not detect a de- 
flection in any individual of this stately row ; they 
stand as straight as the colonnade of Baalbec ; 
they have its great height, they have its graceful- 
ness, they have its dignity; in moonlight or twi- 
light, and shorn of their plumes, they would dupli- 
cate it." 

Spread over the southern slopes of Pembroke 
Parish, to which the Earl of Pembroke lent his 
name, Hamilton is a dazzling town of whitewashed 
limestone, regularly laid out, with excellent streets 
and substantial stone wharfs, the latter bearing 
revenue to their owner, the municipality. In the 
latter part of the eighteenth century trade was 
centred about the shores of the Great Sound, and 
the necessity of a port for the middle and western 
parishes led to the foundation of Hamilton in 
1790, after several years of agitation. The town 
was named in honour of the then Governor, Henry 
Hamilton, was incorporated on June 30, 1793, and 
succeeded St. George's as the seat of government 
on January 1, 1815, the Assembly first meeting 
at the Town Hall two weeks later. Since that 
10 



146 BERMUDA PAST AND PRESENT 

time Hamilton has steadily increased in wealth 
and population, risin^g to the dignity of a city 
in 1898, by special act of the Legislature. Its 
population is about 2500. As the port of call 
for mail steamers from New York, Hamilton is 
the chief distributing point for imports and ex- 
ports, and, therefore, the busiest and most pro- 
gressive community. The merchants import food- 
stuffs and cattle on the hoof from the United 
States and Canada, and the larger retail dry- 
goods stores, which adopt American ideas of mer- 
chandising, send their buyers to England and the 
Continent of Europe, the low tariff enabling them 
to offer high-grade articles, particularly linens 
and laces, at moderate prices. Hamilton has a 
number of modem business buildings, lighted by 
electricity; a telephone system, which reaches to 
all parts of the colony; two banks, two news- 
papers, — the Royal Gazette and Colonist^ — one 
theatre, and three secondary schools. The gaiety 
of its social life is enhanced by the presence of 
the Governor and Admiral in residence and the 
hospitalities extended by the Royal Artillery and 
Engineers and the battalion of infantry that hap- 
pens to be stationed at Prospect. English garri- 
son towns are usually lively, and Hamilton is no 
exception. 

In recent years the energies of the people of 



POINTS OF INTEREST 147 

Hamilton have centred about the tourist traffic, 
and hotel building has progressed on an extensive 
scale. Two large hotels, with the latest conven- 
iences, several smaller ones, and a number of 
boarding-houses and furnished villas, which are 
rented for the season, provide accommodations for 
the constantly growing army of American vis- 
itors. Hotel and private liveries have increased 
in proportion to the demand for carriages, while 
boatmen have added to the mosquito fleet, provid- 
ing among other craft motor and glass-bottomed 
boats for sea-garden excursions. 

Hamilton's central and dominating feature is 
the Cathedral, — a Gothic edifice, standing on 
Church Street. It rivals any ecclesiastical pile 
in the Western Hemisphere, not in size, but in 
beauty, form, and workmanship. Selected stones 
from the United Kingdom, Indiana, and Nova 
Scotia have been harmoniously blended with Caen 
and native limestone, and each block has been 
carefully dressed and laid by superior workmen, 
the result being a splendid specimen of the builder's 
art. The Cathedral was begun in 1885 to replace 
Trinity Church, which had been destroyed by in- 
cendiaries, and is not wholly completed. From 
the massive tower, with its battlemented parapet 
and pinnacles, extensive views of the neighbouring 
parishes may be seen. It is by far the best 



148 BERMUDA PAST AND PRESENT 

observatory in Hamilton. Interior fittings and 
arrangements are in keeping with the whole de- 
sign. Especially fine examples of church sculp- 
ture are the pulpit and lectern, copies of those 
in St. Giles's Cathedral, Edinburgh. Among other 
memorials is a replica of the tablet erected in 
memory of Sir George Somers at Whitechurch. 
No expense has been spared to make the Cathe- 
dral worthy of the Church of England, but few 
persons can tell how much it has cost. 

Whenever state or special naval and military 
services are held at the Cathedral the scene is most 
brilliant and effective. Detachments from the 
Royal Navy, Royal Artillery, and Engineers, the 
Bermuda Volunteer Rifle Corps, and infantry, the 
latter clad in scarlet tunics, with band and colours, 
march to the edifice, and are met there by the 
Governor and staff officers in gorgeous uniforms, 
the chief justice, in wig and knee breeches, colo- 
nial dignitaries, the clergy and their ladies. The 
band participates in the service, playing a volun- 
tary as the colours are brought in and the national 
anthem when they are carried out at the close of 
the service. Then the troops are drawn up in 
front of the Cathedral and reviewed by the Gov- 
ernor, marching to barracks to the tune of a 
quickstep. The colour, music, and dignity of the 
ceremonies are both inspiring and impressive. 




THE CATHEDRAL, HAMILTON 



POINTS OF INTEREST 149 

East of the Cathedral are the Wesleyan 
Methodist and Presbyterian churches ; the Afri- 
can Methodists and Roman Catholics also have 
edifices, and there is, of course, a parish church. 
Within the square bounded by Reid, Parliament, 
and Court Streets, facing on Front, the main 
business thoroughfare at the harbour's edge, is 
the structure known as the Public Buildings, 
opened in 1833. This contains the Council Cham- 
ber, library, departmental offices, and those of the 
Governor. At the opening and closing of Par- 
liament for the session the Governor, attended by 
a guard of honour and band, drives to the Council 
Chamber, and there meets the members of both 
houses, reading his speech from the throne. The 
proceedings follow on a small scale the ceremonies 
attending the opening of the British Parliament, 
the Governor representing the sovereignty of 
Great Britain. 

Back of the Public Buildings is the Post Office, 
and, on higher ground above, the Sessions House, 
where the Assembly and Supreme Court have 
chambers. The commanding clock tower com- 
memorates the jubilee of Queen Victoria. The 
building itself was erected in 1817. Another point 
of interest is the museum of the Bermuda Natural 
History Society at Par-la-ville, on Queen Street. 
In front of the building, hanging its great 



/ 



150 BERMUDA PAST AND PRESENT 

branches across the street, is a gigantic rubber 
tree, about sixty years old, which was imported 
from Essequibo, British Guiana, and planted by 
the late WilHam B. Perot, a former owner of 
Par-la-ville. Facing Cedar Avenue, lined on 
either side with large cedars, is Victoria Park, 
a pretty flower garden, with closely trimmed 
lawns, a large variety of shrubs and shade trees, 
and several pleasing specimens of the candelabra 
cactus, which is described exactly by its name. 
The band stand, erected by the corporation, is 
another memorial of Queen Victoria's jubilee. 
On Fridays, in the winter season, the regimental 
band plays to large audiences, and the park 
presents a very gay appearance. 

Hamilton shows its prosperity in its villas, — 
comfortable houses surrounded by gardens in 
which the regal poinciana, with yellow and crim- 
son flowers, bamboo, sago palm, screw pine, cen- 
tury plant, loquat, and palmetto spread them- 
selves without much cultivation. These gardens 
are ornamented by the bougainvillea, clothed in 
purple, by geraniums half the height of a man, 
by hibiscus, the scarlet stars of the poinsettia, 
and the gorgeous blossoms of the night-blooming 
cereus, to name only a few of the plants one finds 
in them. There is little formality in the method 
of planting, but a marvellous combination of 
colour. 



POINTS OF INTEREST 151 

/ 
/ West of the city, in the Fairyland district, are 

located some of the larger estates, to reach which 
either the Pitt's Bay road or the Serpentine may 
be taken. Beyond Fairyland, or you might say 
at the north end, is the Mangrove Creek, which 
exhibits the manner in which this hardy swamp 
tree will close up a sheltered inlet, if not dis- 
turbed. From each branch strong shoots descend 
into the water and root themselves in mud or 
sand, weaving a thicket that is dark and im- 
penetrable. Climbing upward from the man- 
groves the road is flanked by thick woods, a 
short drive bringing you to Clarence Hill, the 
winter residence of the Admiral of the North 
America and West Indies station. The Admiral 
has a splendid view of the dockyard, with which 
he has to communicate constantly by signal flags, 
and he has also a private landing at a cove on 
the north shore. Keeping onward, you finally 
reach the extremity of Spanish Point, meeting 
the waters of the Great Sound, the whole of 
which is within the range of vision. Returning, 
the north shore road passing the golf links should 
be followed to the Ducking Stool (a reputed place 
of punishment for witches), then there is a steep 
climb through a cut in the hill to Mount Lang- 
ton, the residence of the Governor. Government 
House, completed in 1892, and its gardens form 



152 BERMUDA PAST AND PRESENT 

one of the show places, the entrance being con- 
tinually ablaze with flowers. Permits are neces- 
sary to visit both Government and Admiralty 
houses. 

The descent from Mount Langton into Hamil- 
ton overlooks the beautiful Pembroke valley, at 
the foot of which stands St. John's, the parish 
church, which originated in 1621 and was rebuilt 
in 1721 and again in 1821. The edifice and its 
peaceful churchyard are venerable objects of in- 
terest. After seeing St. John's it is well to go 
eastward to Prospect Hill and look down upon 
the roofs of Hamilton. The picture extends 
across the harbour to Paget and Warwick, dotted 
with houses, and far in the distance, standing 
like a monoHth, is the tower of Gibb's Hill 
Lighthouse, with the Great Sound islands resting 
in the water at the right. From Fort Hamilton, 
near by, there is a less extended but not less 
charming view of the harbour's tinted waters, 
beginning at its head. Sunday church parade is 
an attraction at Prospect; and there is Happy 
Valley, where the soldiers have camp-fires, sing- 
ing music hall ditties and retailing good-humoured 
jokes at the expense of their audience. The Cot- 
tage Hospital, opened in 1894, and supported 
largely by voluntary contributions, is also in the 
Prospect district. 



POINTS OF INTEREST 153 

Hamilton has in the Great Sound an aquatic 
" playground," the best sailing course in the 
islands. From the harbour mouth the main ship 
channel is carried through the narrow Two-Rock 
Passage, where it is almost possible to leap ashore 
from the steamer's deck, curving around the Great 
Sound toward the dockyard, thence straightening 
down the north side to the break in the barrier 
reef. For small boats, however, there are other 
channels, and as the Sound is deep you may sail 
about all the islands and make a landing when- 
ever the spirit moves. Just outside the harbour 
is Agar's Island, lying off Fairyland, where, an 
anonymous writer says, "you row into little 
coves, then into what seem to be lakes, so per- 
fectly enclosed in the water, hard by the shore, 
looking up through dells in which you can al- 
most see the fairies dancing under the trees ; 
under great rocks which threaten to send you 
down among the fishes, around islands, into in- 
lets, where the mangroves, every leaf glistening 
in the moonlight, throw out their branches in 
the most welcoming way." 

Visiting scientists are afforded opportunities 
for study and research at Agar's Island, for here 
is the biological station and aquarium maintained 
by the Bermuda Natural History Society. The 
station was established in 1908 at the suggestion 



154 BERMUDA PAST AND PRESENT 

of Prof. Charles L. Bristol of New York Uni- 
versity, in co-operation with Prof. E. L. Mark 
of Harvard and the Natural History Society. 
Temporary headquarters were occupied at Flatt's 
Village, and in 1908 the station was removed to 
Agar's, where an old powder magazine had been 
converted into a novel aquarium. This under- 
ground structure of solid masonry is divided into 
five transverse chambers, crossed by a dark pas- 
sage. .The chambers, in which are installed glass 
tanks for specimens, are surrounded by a moat 
called the " lighting passage." Tops of the tanks 
are thus exposed to light and air and their 
contents advantageously displayed. The whole 
scheme of lighting, ventilation, and display is 
excellent. 

Advantages of the station are several. There 
is no place nearer the universities of the north- 
eastern American states where coral formation 
can be studied ; the surrounding seas are wonder- 
fully rich in specimens, and it is possible to re- 
stock the tanks frequently at small expense. A 
laboratory, photographic room, library, and other 
rooms, motor and row boats are included in the 
equipment. Membership dues, donations, admis- 
sion fees, and fees of American and Canadian bio- 
logical students who visit the station in the 
summer vacation are devoted to its maintenance. 



POINTS OF INTEREST 155 

Steamboats from Hamilton call regularly at the 
island, which is also reached by rowboat from a 
point west of the city, the distance being a few 
hundred yards. 

For the last fifty years Bermuda has been a 
resort of scientists. Sir Wyville Thompson, of 
the famous Challenger expedition; J. Matthew 
Jones, George Brown Goode, of the Smithsonian 
Institution ; Alexander Agassiz, of Harvard ; An- 
gelo Heilprin, Addison E. Verrill, of Yale, author 
of " The Bermuda Islands," an exhaustive text- 
book; and many others, in addition to Mark and 
Bristol, have studied the natural history of the 
islands. Nor is it possible to forget Bermuda's 
own naturalist, John Tavenier Bartram, private 
of the Thirtieth Regiment, who bought his dis- 
charge and lived for nearly half a century in the 
pursuit of birds, shells, and fishes, dying at the 
age of seventy-eight. 

More than ten years ago Professor Bristol in- 
augurated the work of supplying the New York 
Aquarium with Bermuda fishes, which at once 
proved to be one of the most popular free exhibits 
in the metropolis. He continued this work for a 
decade, and then it was taken over by the Agar's 
Island station. The fish are first " seasoned " in 
the local aquarium to accustom them to captivity 
and then are transported in iron tanks, the water 



156 BERMUDA PAST AND PRESENT 

in which is artificially kept at the same tempera- 
ture throughout the voyage as Bermuda water, 
in order to preserve the fish. Between six and 
seven hundred are sent to New York every sum- 
mer in four consignments, a number of the speci- 
mens going west to the Detroit Aquarium. 

Without discrediting Professor Bristol it must 
be said that not he, but no less a personage than 
Phineas T. Barnum, was the first to introduce 
Bermuda fishes to the New York Aquarium public. 
Barnum, ever on the alert for new thrills, con- 
ceived the idea of bringing live specimens from 
tropical waters, and sent out two expeditions, — 
one to Honduras, the other to Bermuda. Both 
returned without their fish, all having died in 
transit. Barnum was disappointed, but was pre- 
vailed upon by one of his assistants, Mr. W. E. 
Damon, to fit out the well-smack Pacific, which 
sailed to Bermuda in the summer of 1862. These 
being the days of blockade running, all Northern- 
ers were regarded with suspicion, and soon it was 
rumoured that Mr. Damon, in his frequent trips 
across the bays, was taking soundings, not fish. 
Finally, a peremptory order from the authorities 
halted his work, and not until the American con- 
sul had intervened in his behalf was Mr. Damon 
allowed to resume his harmless occupation. His 
party caught six hundred fish, all of which were 



POINTS OF INTEREST 157 

successfully transported, to the greater glory and 
profit of Barnum, and the pleasure of his patrons 
at the Ann Street Museum. 

On Tucker's, Darrell's, Morgan's, Marshall's, 
Burtt's, Hawkin's, and Port's Islands — the larger 
of the Great Sound group — about five thousand 
Boer prisoners of war were confined for nearly 
two years. The burghers were guarded by sol- 
diers and gunboats, but the internal government 
of each laager rested with the prisoners, who 
selected their own officers to enforce camp rules. 
The men occupied their time in fishing, bathing, 
and making souvenirs, with which they flooded 
Bermuda. They were well fed and clothed, and 
there was practically no sickness in the camps. 
After the war the majority took the oath of alle- 
giance to Great Britain and were sent home. A 
few elected to remain in Bermuda, while the recal- 
citrants found their way to New York. 

Tucker's Island should be visited, if only to 
see its cavern and underground lake, which is 
lighted by acetylene gas. The stalactites are of 
great size, — much larger, indeed, than the roof 
pendants of caves in other localities. It is con- 
ceivable, when better facilities for reaching these 
islands are afforded, that they will be populated 
by winter residents who desire solitude and their 
own private bathing places. 



158 BERMUDA PAST AND PRESENT 

Devonshire and Smith's 

Devonshire, named in honour of the Earl of 
Devonshire, and Smith's, in honour of Sir Thomas 
Smith, are the two central parishes, occupying 
that portion of the Main from Pembroke and 
Paget to Harrington Sound, between the north 
and south shores. The north road may be entered 
below Mount Langton or, like the middle road, 
through Prospect, which is a part of Devonshire. 
The north road skirts the shore at the foot of a 
ridge of Jiills, and commands a restful view of the 
ocean. It is hedged by the feathery tamarisk, 
which is never affected by the salt spray that 
flies from the rocks below. The middle road taps 
a typically rural district, a noticeable feature 
being Devonshire Marsh, in which the palmetto 
attains an unusual height. Both north and middle 
roads converge at Flatt's Village. Near the 
marsh reposes quaint old Devonshire church, and 
Christ's Church, the newer parish edifice, com- 
pleted in 1851. Parts of the older building date 
from 1719. It is a curious structure, exemplify- 
ing the methods of shipbuilders as applied to 
architecture. At one end is a gnarled, venerable 
cedar, once used as a belfry. 

St. Mark's, the parish church of Smith's, is 
also reached by the middle road, and thence a 



POINTS OF INTEREST 159 

junction is made with the south shore road, 
near Spittal Pond and Spanish Rock. St. 
Mark's, consecrated in 1848, supplanted a church 
that had crumbled to decay. It is a striking 
building, containing examples of native crafts- 
manship, the pulpit, especially, of cedar and ma- 
hogany, being an exquisite piece of wood carving. 
Time has almost obliterated the initials (de- 
scribed elsewhere) on Spanish Rock, but the place 
will always remain a landmark surrounded by the 
mystery of the ancient sailor who carved his name 
in local history at a time when hogs overran the 
islands. The natural checker board, a singular 
rock formation, is here, but the greatest attraction 
is the scenery. Looking east and west, it is wild 
and magnificent, if such a word may be applied 
to tiny Bermuda. The surf thunders across the 
reefs, churns a froth among the boilers, and rolls 
onward to the gray cliifs, hollowed, torn, dis- 
torted by constant warfare with the ocean, and 
strewn with boulders at the base. Such is the 
picture, modified or emphasised, as you drive east- 
ward over the military road from Spanish Rock 
to Tucker's Town, a lonely settlement of farmers 
and fishermen. Here, as at Paget, are sand dunes, 
some active, shifting with each wind; others held 
together by strong creepers. Here, too, at the 
eastern end of the long, wide beach, stands the 



160 BERMUDA PAST AND PRESENT 

Natural Arch, a rugged piece of seashore archi- 
tecture, with a background of massive cliffs. A 
similar arch is to be seen some distance down the 
shore of Castle Point. Few visitors forego a pil- 
grimage to Tucker's Town Beach. Sohtary, 
noiseless, save for the surf and the plaintive cry 
of the longtail, it is a spot where the wayfarer is 
inclined to linger. 

Hamilton Parish 

Flatt's Village, popular as a place of residence 
for tourists, by reason of its central location, is 
on the border hne of Hamilton Parish, named in 
honour of the Marquis of Hamilton. A century 
ago the Flatts, as it is called, was a shipping 
point of importance, but the silt from the ocean 
has made its Httle harbour shallow, and now only 
small boats can enter it. Off the mouth is Gibbet 
Island, so named because the skull of a slave who 
had killed his master, was exhibited there on a 
gibbet for years. Flatts has one large and several 
smaller boarding houses. Two roads lead east- 
ward from the village, one crossing a bridge over 
a turbulent channel that feeds Harrington Sound, 
the other winding about the sound to Paynter's 
Vale and Walsingham, both meeting near the Ad- 
miral's Cave and continuing toward the Cause- 
way. The road that crosses the bridge passes 



POINTS OF INTEREST 161 

Shelly Bay and Bailey's Bay and is the shorter 
route to St. George's, but the sound road is more 
beautiful and interesting. 

Harrington Sound, a circular body of water 
with Trunk Island in the centre, is enclosed by 
bold cliffs wooded almost to the edge. The settlers 
used to say that the sound waters neither ebbed 
nor flowed, and they were nearly correct, for the 
tidal change is less than a foot. The sound road 
passes Lion Rock, a remarkable effigy of that 
beast, and then you come to the Devil's Hole or 
Neptune's Grotto, which is within the precincts 
of Smith's. It is a natural grotto, in the side of 
a hill, and is fed with water by underground chan- 
nels that are connected with the Sound. It con- 
tains about two thousand fishes, representing 
thirty different species, with the wide-mouthed, 
voracious grouper in the majority. Standing on 
the bridge, you look down into the red jaws lifted 
out of water as the groupers listen for the rattle 
of the keeper's bait can. The pond is quiet, and 
one may study the mottled bodies until bait 
is thrown in; then there is great commotion, and 
the water is churned into a whirlpool. When the 
ripples smooth out, there is a surprising trans- 
formation, for the groupers have changed their 
dress to black — an instantaneous and unseen 
process. Let no one entertain the delusion that 

11 



162 BERMUDA PAST AND PRESENT 

these fish are not dangerous. A British officer 
once ridiculed the fact and to test its truth threw 
his dog into the pool. In a second the animal 
was torn to pieces, and its master departed much 
chastened in spirit. 

Near the Devil's Hole there is a road climbing 
over Knapton Hill toward Spanish Rock, while 
another cuts across country by way of Mangrove 
Lake and Trott's Pond to Tucker's Town. Keep- 
ing to the sound road, you pass Shark's Hole, a 
seaside cavern extending under the rocks, the 
turn at the left leading along the eastern shore 
into Walsingham, the cave district. Close by 
Shark's Hole are two boundary stones, a short 
distance apart. The intervening strip of land 
is reserved to St. George's and furnishes a 
right of way to the sound for residents of that 
parish, to which Tucker's Town belongs. The 
latter place is also reached by a road from this 
locality. 

There is no part of Bermuda where the vegeta- 
tion is wilder, more luxuriant, or the colouring 
more intense than at Walsingham, named after its 
first explorer, the coxswain of the Sea Venture. 
It is almost a riotous tangle as it was in the days 
when Tom Moore sallied forth from Walsingham 
House, beside a rocky pool, and rambled through 
the woods to his hospitable calabash tree, now 





^91 


M^ 


^>^^ 




' m ' Si 




^^..^,.>V,;. 


1 





FISHES IN THE DEVIL'S HOLE 



POINTS OF INTEREST 163 

struggling against age in a cool, green glen. 
Here cedar brush is shrouded in jasmine, which 
in early summer is white with blossoms and heavy 
with perfume; there are coffee trees, oranges, 
lemons, and wild olives ; stalactitic walls of fallen 
caverns and mouths of subterranean chambers are 
masked by creepers, ferns, and moss, while the 
fiddlewood, which assumes as its regular dress soft 
autumn tints, lends touches of brown and red to 
the fresh green of the undergrowth. 

The government should preserve Walsingham 
tract as a public park, for it represents that 
ancient and wonderfully fertile Bermuda of which 
scientists have only a vague conception. Verrill, 
in " The Bermuda Islands," says that Walsingham 
seems to contain the " oldest rocks now exposed 
to view on the islands," and that the caves were 
" excavated by percolating rain water and fresh 
water streams in the hard limestones." The per- 
colation washed out through hidden channels the 
loose sand and earth underlying the hardened 
surface, thus producing recesses in which stalac- 
tite and stalagmite have formed by the constant 
dripping of water, each drop carrying a minute 
deposit of carbonate of lime, which was acquired 
from the calcareous soil in the filtering process. 
Some of the caverns grew too large to support 
their roofs, and so we find throughout Walsing- 



164 BERMUDA PAST AND PRESENT 

ham " sinks " or depressions caused by the col- 
lapse of the structure overhead. In such rocky 
glens there are broken boulders and irregular cur- 
tains of honey-combed limestone — damp, shad- 
owy glades that try shoe leather but delight the 
eye and fire the imagination. 

On the way from Walsingham House is Holy 
Trinity, the parish church of Hamilton, and one 
of the oldest in the colony. It is beautifully situ- 
ated on the north shore of the sound, just above 
Church Bay. The original church, with a thatched 
roof of palmetto leaves, was built in 1622, and 
parts of that structure are embodied in the pres- 
ent building, if the records are not misleading. 
North of the church, and reached by Wilkinson 
Avenue, is the residential district known as Bailey's 
Bay, the road being lined with characteristic 
dwellings and gardens. 

Just off the road is Crystal Cave and Cahow 
Lake, a recent discovery, the most dazzling cavern 
in Bermuda. You enter at the top of a hill and 
descend ninety feet through a rift in the strata 
by means of a stairway fitted at intervals with 
rest-platforms. At the bottom you stand on the 
shore of Cahow Lake, across which is moored a 
pontoon bridge, lighted by gas. The scene is not 
to be conjured. It is another world, a scintillating 
creation of lime and water, the drip, drip, drip 



POINTS OF INTEREST 165 

signifying the slow but steady growth of pendants 
clinging to the salmon-tinted ceiling. 

There are thousands of stalactites not larger 
than a knitting needle; there are conical masses, 
pure as crystal, a foot in diameter at the base ; 
there are translucent draperies, mushroom ef- 
fects, banks of calcite, snow-white, and polished 
like diamonds. Here are donkey's ears, there an 
alligator, at the foot of the stairway a faithful 
model of a turtle. Each living stalactite holds a 
glistening drop at its extremity and vibrates tune- 
fully, but those that are dead, having lost their 
nourishment — water — no longer contain a sug- 
gestion of melody. 

Cahow Lake takes its name from the fact that 
in one of the chambers were found deeply em- 
bedded in the calcite bones and fossilized feathers 
of the cahow, which became extinct about 1630. 
This " silly " bird, as one early writer called it, 
was exceedingly plentiful when the settlers arrived 
and could be caught in hundreds after dark by 
hand. In the first few years of settlement the 
nightmare of famine was ever present, and the 
cahow, being the principal victim of man's ra- 
pacity, soon became extinct. Long had modem 
scientists searched for traces of the bird, but not 
until Crystal Cave was discovered were their ef- 
forts rewarded. The birds lived in holes among 



166 BERMUDA PAST AND PRESENT 

the rocks, coming out at night, and the cave's 
colony was apparently entombed by a sudden dis- 
turbance of the strata. The lake is subject to 
tidal changes, indicating connection with Castle 
Harbour or Harrington Sound, the whole of the 
hill apparently being undermined. The depth of 
water is thirty feet or more, but at some remote 
period the floor was not wholly submerged, for 
numerous stalagmites of large size are visible, 
these having been formed by the drip from the 
ceiling. 

A short distance from this cavern, on the road 
to St. George's, are the Admiral's Cave and the 
Joyce's Dock or Shakespeare grottoes, all of 
which should claim attention. The district has 
the same characteristics as the Walsingham tract, 
of which it may be considered a part, and there 
are several caverns not accessible to the public. 
Two are retained for the enjoyment of their 
owners' private guests. The Admiral's Cave is 
a long one, the first chamber being decorated by 
hundreds of stalactites that assume forms of the 
vegetable world. Farther down into the earth, 
the way being illuminated by gas lights, is the 
organ chamber, where stand one large and a series 
of smaller columns — the organ — resulting from 
the union of stalactite and stalagmite. These 
when struck by metal send forth musical notes 



POINTS OF INTEREST 167 

that echo and re-echo against the dripping roof. 

Another descent brings the explorer to a lake of 

clear water, the strange silence of this chamber 

being disturbed only by the occasional rumble of 

vehicles passing directly overhead on the St. 

George's highway. From this cave, in 1819, 

Admiral Sir David Milne cut a huge stalagmite 

weighing three and a half tons and sent it to the 

museum of the University of Edinburgh. His 

son, Admiral Sir Alexander Milne, visited the 

chamber in 1863 and observed the new matter that 

# 
had been formed by five drops of water on the 

stump during the intervening forty-four years. 
From his measurements the admiral estimated that 
the stalagmite had occupied six hundred thousand 
years in formation, if during the period it was 
forming the drips were not more numerous and 
did not fall more rapidly than in 1863. The 
accuracy of the deduction is by no means con- 
clusive, in the opinion of present-day geologists. 
Down the road a few hundred yards is the gate- 
way of the Joyce's Dock caves, explored by sight- 
seers of three centuries. They are also lighted by 
gas. The Cathedral Cave, so named because it 
contains a great stalagmite fashioned like a pul- 
pit, is entered through a natural gateway of solid 
rock. Growing stalactites, wrought in the form 
of icicles, are reflected in the water of its lake. 



168 BERMUDA PAST AND PRESENT 

while great pillars ppport the sloping roof. The 
fuU beauty of this recess is reahsed from the en- 
trance to the diamond chamber, where, looking 
upward, the eye meets a ceiling with the sparkle 
of a jeweller's cabinet. 

More wonderfully conceived is the companion 
grotto, the Island Cave. A circular lake nearly 
half an acre in extent, is covered by a dome of 
stalactitic material arranged in fantastic clusters. 
Groups of artistic columns beautify the edges, an 
island of stalagmite rises in the centre of the lake, 
and without stretching the imagination it is 
possible to find among the draperies faces and 
figures of familiar personages, including a bust 
of Shakespeare. 

St. George's 

Leaving underground mysteries behind, the way 
points across the Causeway from the Blue Hole to 
Long Bird Island, thence across the Swing Bridge 
to St. George's. On the left hand is the Reach, 
extending from the bridge to the Old Ferry, the 
point of crossing before the Causeway was built; 
on the right is the expanse of Castle Harbour, 
with the ruins of ancient fortifications standing 
at the skyline. The Causeway was completed in 
1871 at a cost of £32,000 ($160,000), and, being 
partly demolished by the hurricane of 1899, was 



POINTS OF INTEREST 169 

repaired the following year. Leaving the bridge, 
the road twists and turns with the contour of 
Mullet Bay, climbs gentle grades, and enters the 
old town, the cradle of Bermuda history, com- 
memorating in its name the exploits of Sir George 
Somers. 

When the site of St. George's was cleared of 
cedars, men planted their homes irregularly over 
the open space heedless of the inevitable advent of 
vehicles, and so the town is a maze of narrow 
streets and crooked alleys, bordered by high- 
walled gardens — a Spanish-looking, unconven- 
tional place, you may say, dignified by age, asso- 
ciations, and the hospitality of its people. Silk 
Alley, Shinbone, Old Maid's Alley, and Turkey 
Hill are some of the curious names given to the 
byways. Although older by one hundred and 
eighty-eight years than Hamilton, St. George's 
was not incorporated until 797, four years after 
the capital. Since the American civil war St. 
George's has experienced many vicissitudes and 
marks of decay are apparent, but its former pres- 
tige, which departed when the seat of government 
was removed to Hamilton, is likely to return four- 
fold after its spacious, land-locked harbour, the 
natural port of the islands, is made accessible to 
large steamships, by the deepening of the chan- 
nel, a project that will not long be delayed. The 



170 BERMUDA PAST AND PRESENT 

bulk of the colony's coaling trade is conducted by 
the town's merchants, but unfortunately for the 
corporation the wharfs are largely controlled by 
private interests, and its sources of revenue are 
therefore restricted. The town's tourist traffic is 
increasing, there being one large modern hotel and 
several boarding houses. Furnished houses are 
also available. For the use of excursionists there 
are livery stables, yachts, fishing boats, launches, 
and glass-bottomed boats, water expeditions, and 
drives to the caves and south shore beaches being 
the principal diversions. The population of the 
town is a little less than one thousand. 

St. Peter's, mother of all the parish churches, 
and its graveyard are in the centre of the town. 
Governor Moore, in 1612, built a cedar church 
on this site, but it was soon destroyed by a hurri- 
cane. In 1620 Governor Butler built a more sub- 
stantial church, and it is probable that some of his 
masonry is contained in the existing walls, raised 
in 1713, and covered with a thatched roof of 
palmetto leaves, which made way about fifty years 
later for one of stone. Time had worked havoc 
with St. Peter's until 1908, when through public 
subscriptions it was possible to renovate the struc- 
ture thoroughly, and now the old church bids 
fair to double its age. Within the shadow of the 
clock tower, erected in 1814, is the grave of Mid- 




STREET IN ST. GEORGE'S 



POINTS OF INTEREST 171 

shipman Dale, closely crowded by family tombs, 
weather-stained and hoary with age. It bears 
this inscription: 

In memory of 
RICHARD SUTHERLAND DALE 

Eldest son of Commodore Richard Dale of 
Philadelphia in the U. S. of America, a mid- 
shipman IN the U. S. Navy. 

He departed this life at St. George's, Bermuda 
on the 22nd day of February, A. D. 1815, aged 
20 years, one month and 17 days. He lost his right 
leg in an engagement between the U. S. Frigate 
President and a squadron of His Britannic Maj- 
esty's ships of war on 15th January, A. D. 1815. 

His confinement caused a severe complaint in 
his back which in a short time terminated his life. 

This stone records the tribute of his parents* 
gratitude to those inhabitants of St. George's, 
whose generous and tender sympathy prompted 
the kindest attentions to their son while living, 
and honoured him when dead. 

The interior arrangements of the church belong 
to the past. At the centre of the north wall is a 
double-decked pulpit, while the altar is built at 
the east wall, making it necessary for the con- 
gregation to face right about when the creed is 
repeated. Between pulpit and altar are large 



172 BERMUDA PAST AND PRESENT 

box pews, with seats on two sides, the preacher 
looking at the backs of some of his auditors. 
One of these pews is reserved for the Governor, 
who has the legal right to a sitting in each parish 
church. St. Peter's massive silver communion ser- 
vice was given to the parish in 1684 by King 
William III, the christening basin was the gift of 
Governor Browne of Salem, Mass., and among 
the archives is an inventory of plate, linen, and 
books, taken in 1744. Mural tablets cover the 
walls, telling the story of yellow fever epidemics 
and extolling the virtues of long-forgotten men 
and women. There are examples of the sculpture 
of Bacon and Westmacott, but the memorial which 
attracts most attention is that erected to Gov- 
ernor Alured Popple, " who," says Lefroy, " is 
gratefully remembered by the ladies of Bermuda 
for imposing a tax on bachelors." It is worded 
as follows: 

Died at Bermuda November 17 1744 

in the 46th year of his age. 

After nine days illness of a bilious fever, 

The Good Governor, 

ALURED POPPLE Esq; 

During the Com*se of his Administration, 

which to the inconsolable grief of the Inhabitants 

Continued but six years. 

Of the many Strangers who resorted Thither for their health 

The Observing easily discovered in him, 



POINTS OF INTEREST 173 

Under the graceful Veil of Modesty, 
An Understanding and Abilities equal 
To a more important Trust; 
The Gay and Polite were charmed with the Unaffected 
Elegance and amiable Simplicity of his Manners 
And all were chear'd 
By his Hospitality and diffusive Benevolence 
Which Steadily flowed and Undisturbed, 
From the Heart, 
To Praise, according to his Merit, 
The Deceased 
would be but too sensible a Reproach 
To the Living; 
And to enumerate the many rare Virtues 
which shone united in the Governor 
of that little Spot 
were to tell how many great Talents 
and excellent Endowments are 
Wanting in Some 
Whom the capriciousness of Fortune 
Exposes 
In a more elevated and Conspicuous station. 

Governor Popple was far from popular with 
Bermudians, and apparently he incurred the dis- 
pleasure of some who occupied " a more elevated 
and conspicuous station " in England, where the 
inscription was written by friends. To Bermu- 
dians it is irreverently known as Governor Popple's 
"certificate of character." His tax on bachelors, 
it may be said, amounted to one shilling a head. 



174 BERMUDA PAST AND PRESENT 

On Water Street is the Post Office and Custom 
House, formerly the colonial jail in which the 
American revolutionary prisoners were confined. 
Between the exterior and interior walls are blocks 
of hard limestone, which probably thwarted many 
a convict. A notable prisoner was John Stephen- 
son, confined for six months in 1801 for "preach- 
ing the gospel of Jesus Christ to African blacks 
and captive negroes," a law having been enacted 
especially to fit his so-called crime. But it was 
ineffective, for the dauntless Stephenson preached 
through his cell window, drawing sympathy and 
followers from the crowd. This was practically 
the last instance of religious .persecution in the 
colony. 

A few doors above the Post Office is the house 
in which the Duke of Clarence, afterward King 
William IV, lived as an officer of the Royal Navy, 
and a short distance below, on Market Square, is 
the Town Hall, in which are pictures of the several 
mayors. The former home of the Courts of Jus- 
tice and Council, on rising ground at the east of 
the square, is held in trust by the Corporation for 
Lodge St. George, No. 200, which is supposed to 
pay an annual rental of one peppercorn, according 
to the deed of gift made by Governor Sir James 
Cockburn in 1816. The deed also provided that 
parliamentary elections should be held in the 



POINTS OF INTEREST 175 

building. Lodge 200 was chartered in 1797 
under the Grand Registry of Scotland and is 
the oldest body of freemasons in Bermuda. 

Just north of the lodge, in York Street, is the 
Public Garden, the garden of the governors when 
St. George's was the capital, and the burial place 
of Sir George Somers's heart, as the memorial 
tablet (mentioned elsewhere) indicates. It is a 
bright spot, with flowering shrubs and rare trees, 
including a " monkey's puzzle," date palms more 
than one hundred and fifty years old, and effective 
specimens of the screw pine. While this is being 
written the colony is erecting in the garden a 
limestone monument to commemorate Somers and 
the ter-centenary of Bermuda. On Government 
Hill, which rises back of the garden, is the new 
parish church which when completed will supplant 
venerable St. Peter's. Here stood the powder 
magazine which Captain Ord depleted in 1775, also 
the residence of the Governor. Eighty years after 
the powder episode a curious discovery was made 
in the course of excavations on Government Hill. 
The skeleton of a man was exhumed, the skuU 
showing a fracture. He had evidently been killed 
and buried in haste, as his grave was only two feet 
deep. Buttons, gold lace, spurs, and a whalebone 
riding whip indicated that he had been a French 
staff officer, probably a prisoner of war on parole 



176 BERMUDA PAST AND PRESENT 

when the magazine was entered. This man was 
supposed to have escaped with Ord's men, but it 
is apparent that they killed him in the belief that 
he was spying on their movements. Thus the 
shallow grave vindicated his honour. 

From the heights above the town the outlook 
can scarcely be surpassed. The signal station at 
Fort George sweeps the entire north shore, the 
near and distant islands of Castle Harbour on 
the south, the ocean at the east — a comprehensive 
picture by daylight and a singularly attractive 
scene when moonrays cut a path across the phos- 
phorescent waters of the town harbour and tinge 
the foliage of St. David's with silver grey. Under 
the brow of Rose Hill, facing York Street, is the 
Methodist Chapel, while on the eastern slope are 
the crumbling ruins of Nea's home, reminiscent 
of Tom Moore. From Barrack Hill, rising above 
the cliffs of Convict Bay at the eastern end of 
the town, you may look down into the crooked 
alleys and private gardens, and realise the extent 
and beauties of the harbour. This hill and the 
plateau extending north and east comprise a mili- 
tary reservation, where Tommy Atkins lives in 
large, airy barracks, St. George's being the head- 
quarters of the Royal Artillery. The colonel's 
residence is a conspicuous building, back of which 
is the officers' mess. 



POINTS OF INTEREST 177 

On the Cut Road, which runs below Barrack 
Hill, are several large houses and gardens, the 
ocean coming into view at the extremity of Ber- 
muda, hard by the Town Cut Channel, which runs 
between St. George's and Higgs Islands. Power 
of empire is typified in the surrounding fortifica- 
tions — guardians of the channels — but they are 
not open to public inspection and sketching or 
photographing them is prohibited. On this shore 
Somers and his company landed; here, too, is 
Building's Bay, where their shipbuilders laboured, 
and Lunn's Well, which they dug three centuries 
ago. And the bachelor who drinks a thimble full 
of its water will surely be married before leaving 
Bermuda — so runs the legend. A drive from this 
point past the parade ground, military church. 
Fort Victoria, and the barracks back of Govern- 
ment Hill brings one to the Naval Tanks — large 
water catches — the traditional landing place of 
Captain Ord's crew. Coot Pond and the limestone 
pinnacles called Tobacco Rocks are in the vicinity, 
and looking eastward is Fort Catherine, crowning 
St. Catherine's Point, around which vessels turn 
from the Ship Channel to proceed up the north 
shore to the dockyard and Hamilton. Another 
drive is by the Ferry Road leading west from the 
town about Mullet Bay and going through the 
neck of land that stretches to the Old Ferry. 

12 



178 BERMUDA PAST AND PRESENT 

Lover's Lake, the Martello Tower, and the salt 
house on Coney Island — the latter a relic of the 
salt industry — are seen en route. 

Opposite St. George's is St. David's Island, 
running the length of the harbour, with Smith's 
lying parallel at the eastern end. Between 
Smith's and Paget Island is the harbour mouth, 
commanded by Fort Cunningham on Paget. The 
first settlers landed on Smith's Island, and the 
remains of their ovens are visible there, St; Da- 
vid's, reached by steam ferry from St. George's, 
is the only large island having no highway con- 
nection with the others, and through isolation its 
inhabitants, a sturdy race, have closely retained 
the old 'Mudian traditions of living. They farm, 
fish, pilot vessels, go to sea when they hear the 
call, and chase the whale at every opportunity, 
according to the ways of their ancestors. You 
will find their prototypes in Nantucket and along 
the south shore of Long Island. The capture of a 
whale, now a rare occurrence, carries the greater 
part of the population to Smith's Island, where 
the blubber is tried out in vats that were built 
when the industry supported many families and 
the colony burned sperm oil only. They tell many 
stories of the simplicity of the David's Islanders, 
or " Mohawks," as some call them. One concerns 
a bearded patriarch who said he would have " no 



POINTS OF INTEREST 179 

graven images " in the house when his son of 
forty brought home the first photograph of him- 
self. There is another which depicts the consterna- 
tion of an old fisherman when he caught sight of 
the Thames, the first steamer to visit Bermuda. 
It was in March, 1842, and he was anchored off 
shore in a dinghy, with a boy as his only com- 
panion. When he saw the mysterious fire-ship 
bearing down upon him, a cloud of smoke trailing 
in the sky, he cried in terror : " Sonny, sonny, 
cut the killick, perdition cometh." A killick, by 
the way, is a stone anchor protected by cedar or 
oleander boughs. It was devised by the early 
settlers and is still generally used. 

The ferryboat's course lies through a narrow 
passage between Smith's and St. David's into 
limpid water, the shore on either side being in- 
dented by tiny coves. On the sand of one called 
Dolly's Bay is the remnant of a civil war torpedo 
raft, one of three built in New York to be used 
in assaults upon Charleston. In 1862 the rafts 
left New York in tow of the steamer Ericsson, but 
in a gale off Cape Hatteras one of the trio broke 
away and could not be recovered. For six years 
it drifted, a dangerous ocean waif, then the cur- 
rents directed its course to Bermuda. In 1872, 
four years later, a sea captain representing 
Boston underwriters, came to the islands. He was 



180 BERMUDA PAST AND PRESENT 

told about the strange derelict and went to Dolly's 
Bay to see it. " Well, well, did I ever expect to 
be shipmates with it again? " he exclaimed, as he 
boarded the raft and without hesitation picked out 
the government number. He was none other than 
Captain E. H. Faucon, once an auxiliary officer 
of the United States navy, and commander of the 
Ericsson, also, in earlier days master of the brig 
Pilgrim, in which Richard H. Dana sailed and 
collected the material for " Two Years Before the 
Mast." 

Captain Faucon recalled the wild night off Hat- 
teras, the loss of the raft, and the drowning of 
a boy who with other seamen had tried to save 
the tow. The raft was built of heavy pine timbers, 
at one end of which projected two arms, each in- 
tended to hold a torpedo. The other end or tail 
was constructed to fit the bows of a monitor, 
which was supposed to push the raft against the 
submarine barricades of Charleston Harbour, ex- 
ploding the torpedoes by contact with the ob- 
struction. No longer does the relic resemble the 
derelict of 1868. It is simply a mass of rusty 
spikes and spongy timbers, which resisted the 
efforts of those who tried to pull them apart. 

From the last ferry landing it is a short climb 
to St. David's Lighthouse on Mount Hill. The 
lighthouse is an octagonal limestone tower, 55 feet 



POINTS OF INTEREST 181 

from base to lantern and nearly 209 feet above sea 
level. It was built in 1879, exhibiting a fixed 
white light, which enables navigators to take cross 
bearings with the Gibb's Hill flash. The eastern 
gallery overlooks the new St. David's Fort, and 
the rugged cliffs of Great Head, beyond which are 
the buoys marking the channel through the barrier 
reef. Turning north, the bays between St. David's 
and Smith's, the harbour and town, showing pink- 
washed government buildings on Ordnance Island, 
come into view, while south and west are breakers 
and the islands of Castle Harbour in bold relief. 
All of the north shore affords views of St. George's, 
and on the south shore are several bathing beaches. 
Castle Harbour, the chief anchorage of early 
Bermuda, lies between the west end of St. David's 
and the shore of Walsingham and Tucker's Town, 
and is entered from the head of the town harbour. 
For two centuries the coral builders have worked 
here so rapidly that the harbour is fiUed with 
shoals, and it is now a succession of sea-gardens — 
prolific in specimens for the collector. Vessels can 
no longer enter, but with a small boat and a com- 
petent pilot it is a simple matter to avoid the 
rocks and sail to the desolate islands on its southern 
edge. Practically the whole of Castle Island is 
covered with grey ruins. It is a bleak, barren 
spot supporting only sage bush, prickly pears, 



182 BERMUDA PAST AND PRESENT 

and scrub cedar, — an abode of goats, rabbits, liz- 
ards, and crabs. Even so, its inhospitable shore 
is inviting. You land on the south side, clamber 
up needle-like rocks to the ruins, and find yourself 
carried back to 1612,. when Governor Moore 
built his cedar gun-platforms to protect Castle 
Harbour and the struggling settlement against 
attacks of the much-feared Spaniards. The 
scheme of defence is readily traced. King's 
Castle is built at the eastern escarpment, and here 
in addition to gun embrasures is a chamber hol- 
lowed in the rock, with circular compartments for 
round shot. A stone parapet or rampart runs 
along the ocean side, with more casemates for guns 
at the west end. An old kitchen and brick oven 
are near by, and on rising ground about the centre 
of the island is the citadel or Devonshire Redoubt, 
named by Governor Butler, who in 1620 repaired 
and extended Moore's works. Close by the abrupt 
cliffs on the north side are the so-called " dunr 
geons," in reality the barracks. It is difficult to 
tell the exact age of the ruins, for the fortifications 
were frequently repaired, probably for the last 
time in the War of 1812. 

Only once, in 1613, was the garrison of King's 
Castle called upon to exhibit its prowess. In that 
year two Spanish ships appeared off the harbour 
with the intention, it was believed, of recovering 



POINTS OF INTEREST 183 

buried treasure, and, saj^s John Smith : " Master 
More made but two shot, which caused them to 
depart. Marke here the handiwork of the diune 
providence, for they had but three quarters of a 
barreU of powder, and but one shot more, and the 
powder by carelessnesse was tumbled down vnder 
the mussels of the two peeces, were discharged, 
yet not touched with fire when they were dis- 
charged." 

On the eastern side of the channel, opposite 
King's Castle, is Brangman's or Southampton 
Island, on which there is another ruined redoubt, 
and a third crumbling fortification stands on 
Charles or Goat Island. Castle Island, however, 
is more accessible than its neighbours, and its 
ruins are more extensive and have a greater his- 
toric interest. East of Brangman's Island is 
Nonsuch, the quarantine detention station, and 
then Cooper's Island, the home of regiments of 
land crabs, which scurry into their burrows, like 
prairie dogs, at the slightest noise. The beaches 
are composed of sand almost as fine as sifted flour, 
and on them are thrown quantities of the little 
pink and green shells that the native jewellers 
utilise in trinkets. There is a natural bridge, and 
the island is invested with a romance of hidden 
treasure. " The marks and signe of it," accord- 
ing to the deposition of Joseph Ming, " were 



184 BERMUDA PAST AND PRESENT 

three jallow wood trees, that stood tryangular 
upon one of wch was a plate of brass nailed, and 
on the other were severall names or lettrs cutt 
theron." That redoubtable " king," Christopher 
Carter, grandfather of Joseph Ming, found a 
quantity of ambergris on Cooper's, and with this 
he purchased the island, being convinced that he 
would find the treasure, although the proprietors 
offered him St. David's, which was a greater bar- 
gain. Of course. Carter never found the treasure, 
and his investment proved to be a costly one, for, 
under the terms of the purchase, he was obliged 
to maintain at his own expense a garrison of 
seven men at Pembroke's Fort, the island redoubt. 
It will be remembered that a yellow wood tree also 
figured in the Ireland Island treasure tale, but, as 
with the treasure, only the memory of the wood 
remains. It disappeared long ago. 

Cooper's Island completes the list of points of 
interest — the principal points. A month is a 
brief space in which to see them all; indeed, you 
might profitably spend six months or a year in 
your rambles, for, though circumscribed, Bermuda 
is kaleidoscopic. She is not wholly known to her 
people. If they who live there year after year can 
find new pictures, new viewpoints, what must there 
be in store for the casual visitor.? 



CHAPTER XI 

BERMUDA DIVERSIONS 

What to do in Bermuda is not a problem, but 
before telling what you may do it is proper to 
say what you should do. Be it remembered that 
Bermuda is so compact and its social intercourse 
so interwoven that every man feels it his duty to 
be polite to his fellow whether or not he has seen 
him before or may see him again. One hour on 
shore is sufficient for you to learn that it is cor- 
rect to pass the time of day with every man, 
woman, and child, white or coloured, ahorse or 
afoot, at all hours. A roadside salute is the out- 
ward manifestation of native hospitality, intended 
only to make the stranger feel at ease in a land 
where small amenities of life count for much. The 
barefoot boy gives it, so does the staid old gentle- 
man, and if the visitor does not think himself an 
exalted personage, upon whom unusual honours 
are showered, he is likely to be lacking in self- 
esteem. It has been so since the beginning, may 
it remain so forever, if the natives are to retain 
their reputation for uniform politeness. 

The person who wishes sidelights on native life 
should board a 'bus, the time-honoured means of 



186 BERMUDA PAST AND PRESENT 

conveyance. He may be compressed into a small 
space between passengers and parcels ; his " in- 
nards " may be j olted out of place ; he may decide 
never to go again, but he will remember the ex- 
perience always. Likewise he will not forget the 
man who pilots the team. The 'bus driver is 
typically Bermudian. He never refuses a passen- 
ger nor a commission. He is guide, philosopher, 
friend, weather prophet, and messenger for the 
people along his route. All know and respect 
him, and impose upon his everlasting fund of 
good nature, which radiates from his black skin. 
His memory is automatic, he never complains, never 
seems tired nor out of sorts, though he works 
twelve hours each weekday. 

If Mrs. Lambert wants a pair of shoes for 
Johnny, her youngest, she stands at the roadside 
and hands to the 'bus driver a note addressed to 
Mr. Jackson in town. Evening finds her again 
in the same spot, and, sure enough, the driver de- 
livers three pairs, one of which Johnny will wear 
in church on Sunday, thereby creating envy among 
his small companions. The others she returns to 
Mr. Jackson by the same conveyance. If Mrs. 
Jones needs a prescription renewed, she gives the 
empty bottle to the driver; if Mr. Jones wants 
his watch repaired, he does the same thing. Mrs. 
Packwood asks the driver to fetch her a joint for 



BERMUDA DIVERSIONS 187 

dinner, while her neighbour gets him to land the 
family wash at Bolton's store, where it remains 
until somebody's child from over the hill calls 
for it. 

With a shrill whistle the driver alarms a drowsy 
household. " Seen any of the Simmons people 
around this morning?" he inquires. "No; well 
give them this when they come," and he may 
hand out a chair, or milk can, or two gasping 
chickens, with wings locked and legs tied. He 
knows the Simmons people will get their articles, 
even though a member of the drowsy household 
has to go a mile out of his way to deliver them. 
Nothing seems to go astray; if anything does, 
it is not irretrievable. 

It is the same the length of the line. Tables, 
buckets, bicycles, roUs of oil cloth and matting 
are strapped to the vehicle, to be delivered en 
route; frequently the array of household goods 
on the dashboard and front seat is so great that 
the driver stands on the wagon pole. Passengers, 
too, have personal baggage and livestock. One 
man grasps a dog, another a crate with a fright- 
ened pigeon in it; a soldier has his kit bag and 
rifle, a woman rests a market-basket on her lap; 
and everybody seems to carry a bouquet in this 
land of blossoms. 

As for the horses, they are overloaded, but not 



188 BERMUDA PAST AND PRESENT 

ill-treated otherwise. The driver does not use the 
whip; he is content to travel leisurely. He has 
to carry the grist of news from parish to parish, 
bearing tidings of the sick to their friends, telling 
the daily crop prices to onion packers in the fields, 
conveying messages, commenting on the weather. 
Truly, he is a man to be reckoned with. 

There is another man of the same race whose 
character is quite as unique. He is the driver of 
the victoria you engage for the day. You can 
choose no better courier for sightseeing. Probably 
his knowledge of the world is extremely limited, 
but ask him anything about Bermuda and he will 
give an intelligent answer. He has been on the 
road since boyhood and is familiar with every 
stone and corner, every house, tree, hill, and bay. 
Also he has an appreciation of the beautiful, and 
pride of native land prompts him to point out 
uncommon bits of scenery as you spin along. 

Drives are popular, but there are other diver- 
sions which cannot be overlooked. Bathing, sail- 
ing, fishing, perennial pastimes are these, and in 
making an engagement the proviso " weather per- 
mitting " does not often have to be inserted. Bath- 
ing in primitive Bermuda fashion is a delight. 
Row to an uninhabited island, don your suit in 
the bushes, and plunge overboard — that is the 
way. Women use one side of the island as a 



BERMUDA DIVERSIONS 189 

dressing-room, men the other. Not a soul dis- 
turbs the party; the place is yours until you 
leave. At any beach there is the same seclusion 
and no danger. No man-eating sharks are about 

— they dare not brave the reefs ; the undertow 
is insignificant, and bottom is always in sight — 
you know where you are treading. And the water 

— a filter could not make it cleaner. It is a re- 
freshing appetizer for the tea that invariably fol- 
lows the bath. Bermudians have a habit of picnick- 
ing at the slightest opportunity. They carry 
kettles, spirit lamps, water, every conceivable ne- 
cessity for a square meal, and unsociable is the 
person who cannot enjoy these informal little 
gatherings. 

The true native sport is yachting. Your Ber- 
mudian takes to a boat as soon as he is able to 
walk — he cannot help it. His environment and 
family traditions belong to the sea, and he in- 
dulges himself where boats are concerned. Some- 
times he is competent to design and build his 
craft; always is he able to handle it. Before the 
days of steam, comprehensive charts, and buoyed 
channels, the Bermuda pilots gained the admira- 
tion of every shipmaster with whom they came in 
contact. They had quick eyesight, presence of 
mind, and the ability to manoeuvre a ship under 
trying conditions. Taking a position in the top 



190 BERMUDA PAST AND PRESENT 

or on the forecastle, the pilot directed the vessel's 
course through the reefs, simply by noting the 
appearance of the bottom, and in masterly style 
would pick out a devious passage, even in half a 
gale. 

In similar fashion the coloured yacht pilot, 
standing by the mast, cons the brown shoal- 
patches, keeps an eye on the weather, and shouts 
his orders to the helmsman. " Luff, sir, hard-a- 
lee, steady ! " and as the boat responds she flies 
between two ugly ledges, with a few inches of 
water to spare on either side. At night, when 
the novice sees only a blur of darkness, confidence 
in the pilot is measurably increased. Experience 
has taught him to remember his landmarks. A 
hole in the water-worn rock, a clump of cedars, 
somebody's window lamp, a lone palmetto — these 
and other guides he picks up one by one; never 
for a moment is he confused or at a loss for a 
proper bearing. Never sail without a pilot is 
sage advice for those unaccustomed to Bermuda 
waters. He knows his boat, what the wind is 
likely to do in a certain quarter, where and how 
far to go, and you may trust his judgment and 
eyesight. 

There are scores of amateur yachtsmen who 
do not hesitate to match their wits against the 
professional pilots. They are on the water day 



BERMUDA DIVERSIONS 191 

after day, and scarcely a week goes by without 
at least one race. No water sport provides more 
exciting- incidents than a race between dinghies, — 
little open boats built of the buoyant cedar, sloop- 
rigged, with leg-o'-mutton mainsail. According 
to the rules, a dinghy must not be more than 
14 feet 1 inch over all, but no limitation or 
penalty is placed on the sail-spread, time allow- 
ances being based on the boat's measured ton- 
nage. The result is a most impressive exhibition 
of canvas, three suits of which are pro\dded, — 
one for light weather, another for moderate 
breezes, the third for a strong wind. Some idea 
of the amount of sail carried in light weather 
is apparent from the size of the spars. The bow- 
sprit is longer than the boat, the mast twice as 
long, and there is nearly as much sail on the 
boom as on the mast. The spinnaker contains 
nearly as much cloth as jib and mainsail combined. 
With this smother of sail the dinghy must neces- 
sarily be tender. She has a lead-filled false keel, 
with a deep sheet-iron j aw or " fan " attached, 
but despite this weight below water the boat is 
so cranky that she will capsize when the mast is 
stepped, unless men and ballast are on board. 
This element of instability gives the crew oppor- 
tunities to show their seamanship, especially when 
the breeze comes in puffs which end as quickly as 
they begin. 



192 BERMUDA PAST AND PRESENT 

The crew is usually composed of four men and 
a boj, the latter to sit in the boat's bottom, bail 
continually, and keep her free of water. He has 
to work hard, but if the breeze softens his ser- 
vices are dispensed with, and he jumps overboard 
and swims until a friendly spectator picks him 
up. The captain or " connor " sits opposite the 
mast and handles the jib sheets. Next to him is 
the man who shifts ballast, then the one who holds 
the main sheets, and finally the steersman. The 
" Connor's " word is law, for he is the man who 
sails the boat. A master sailor is he. Keen of 
eye, self-reliant, he not only watches his antago- 
nists, but discovers and takes advantage of every 
slant of wind. A slight ripple far ahead, the 
behaviour of other boats, convey much to the 
mind of the " connor," and luffing, luffing, he eats 
his way to windward and to victory if he makes 
no mistakes. 

With every stitch of canvas drawing and the 
mast buckling like whalebone, with her lee gun-, 
wale under water and the men leaning so far 
out to windward that their backs are flecked with 
foam — this is the way a dinghy drives along 
under the impetus of a full breeze. And all the 
while the ballast-shifter is moving heavy pigs of 
lead, resting one on his knees and another on his 
chest as he stretches his length over the weather 



BERMUDA DIVERSIONS 193 

side, with toes braced in cleats. Turning the 
weather stakeboat, sheets are slacked, the spin- 
naker is broken out, and the crew, huddling aft, 
seem to be sitting between two walls of foam. 
If the load of canvas proves too much, there is 
one ending only. The dinghy rolls, buries her 
stem, and sinks slowly to bottom. Sails disappear, 
and only men are left to flounder about in the 
water. A buoy attached to the boat floats to the 
surface, and they pull her up and rig a suit of 
dry sails in time for the next event. 

The only obstacle to dinghy racing is the ex- 
pense. It is not possible to use the boats for any 
other purpose, and their elaborate equipment is 
costly; but there are enough enthusiasts to keep 
the game alive — may it never die. Racing of 
larger boats grows apace, and on regatta days the 
scene is a moving picture of all manner of craft 
loaded with gaily frocked women and men in flan- 
nels, while less fortunate spectators line the shore, 
shouting encouragement to their favourites. There 
are three yacht clubs at Hamilton, — the Royal 
Bermuda, premier organisation; the Hamilton 
Dinghy, and the Bermuda Boat and Canoe Club; 
at the east end the St. George's Yacht Club is 
active in promoting regattas. 

The Royal Bermuda Yacht Club was organised 
as the Bermuda Yacht Club by several civilians 
13 



194 BERMUDA PAST AND PRESENT 

and army officers at a meeting held under Tom 
Moore's calabash tree on November 1, 1844, the 
first commodore being Lord Mark Kerr of the 
Twentieth Regiment. Its first regatta was held 
in 1845, when Prince Albert became a member of 
the club and Qu^en Victoria gave her permission 
for the organisation to be styled the Royal Ber- 
muda Yacht Club. Two years later the Lords 
of the Admiralty authorised the club to fly the 
blue ensign of the British fleet, with its own dis- 
tinctive emblem thereon. This is an honour few 
colonial yacht clubs enjoy, and it means that 
vessels flying the red ensign must first salute the 
blue. The club's boats, on the other hand, are 
supposed to offer the first salute to the white 
ensign, or Admiral's flag. There are several 
challenge cups in the club's possession, one of 
which was presented by the late Duke of Edin- 
burgh, who succeeded his father as patron, and 
another by Princess Louise, who visited Bermuda 
in 1883. These two trophies are sailed for an- 
nually. The present royal patron of the club is 
the Prince of Wales, who commanded a ship-of- 
war on the North Atlantic and West Indies Sta- 
tion in 1901, and succeeded his uncle, the Duke 
of Edinburgh, in this capacity. 

Yachting is no longer localised, thanks to the 
energies of American Corinthians of the type 



BERMUDA DIVERSIONS 195 

who enjoy the rough and tumble of deep water. 
Through the efforts of Thomas Fleming Day, 
editor of the Rudder, New York, the first ocean 
race between that port and Bermuda was sailed 
in the summer of 1906 for a cup donated by Sir 
Thomas Lipton, and the event has become an an- 
nual fixture, in which several American clubs par- 
ticipate, the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club acting 
as host for the visitors. Three yachts entered 
the first race, — the schooner Tamerlane, owned 
by Frank Maier, Rear-Commodore of the New 
Rochelle Yacht Club, and sailed by Mr. Day; 
the yawl Lila, commanded by her owner, D. L. 
Floyd, and the little sloop Gaimtlett, which had 
on board J. B. Robinson, his bride, and two men. 
The race was started in so heavy a gale that 
Tamerlane preferred to return to port and await 
moderate weather. Lila and Gauntlet t contin- 
ued, but the former was driven off her course to 
seek a coast harbour. When Tamerlane finally 
started, sixty-five hours later, she made fairly 
good weather and won the race, beating Gauntlett 
to port by a day. Her time was a little more 
than five days; Gauntlett took nine to cover the 
distance. 

Twelve boats made the race of 190T in two 
classes. Two were Bermuda craft. Entries in 
class A were the schooners Dervish, owner H. A. 



196 BERMUDA PAST AND PRESENT 

Morss, Corinthian Yacht Club; Mist, H. Binney, 
New York Yacht Club; Shamrock, Frederick 
Thompson, Brooklyn Yacht Club ; Priscilla, Man- 
son and Neun, Rochester Yacht Club; Zuhrah, 
Henry Doscher, New Rochelle Yacht Club ; Tarn- 
many, W. C. Towen, Brooklyn Yacht Club ; sloops 
Zinita, H. Cohen, Brooklyn Club; Isoldt, W. E. 
Meyer, St. George's (Bermuda) Yacht Club; 
yawl Flamingo, W. H. Fleming, Brooklyn Club. 
In class B: Lila, flying the Brooklyn Club 
flag; Mr. Maier's yawl Hyperion, and the tiny 
sloop Zena, owned by D. R. W. Burrows of the 
Royal Bermuda Yacht Club were entered. Der- 
vish and Lila were winners in their respective 
classes, the former accomplishing the voyage 
in 98 hours, 50 minutes, L^a taking 103 hours, 
45 minutes. 

The race of 1908 again brought out Dervish 
and Zuhrah, in addition to the schooners Espe- 
ranza, owned by J. Dalzell McKee of the Atlantic. 
Yacht Club, and Venona, owned by J. Elmer Bliss 
of the Eastern Yacht Club; also the yawl Mar- 
chioness, whose owner, John B. Crozer, flew the 
flag of the Yachtsmen's Association of Philadel- 
phia. Dervish was again a winner, and so was 
Venona, which was matched with the Marchioness. 
These two small boats beat their larger and more 
powerful rivals, Venona saihng the distance in a 



BERMUDA DIVERSIONS 197 

little more than 98 hours. This race was started 
from Marblehead, Mass. 

A curious feature of the race of 1909, started 
from New York, was the close contest between the 
schooners Margaret, George S. Runk, owner, New 
York Yacht Club, and Amorita, Dr. W. L. Baum, 
owner, Chicago Yacht Club. Although Amorita 
finished only three minutes ahead of Margaret, 
the boats never sighted each other during the 
voyage. Other yachts in the race were the Cru^ 
sader II, Edward Palmer, owner, Atlantic Yacht 
Club; Restless, Leedom Sharp, owner; and the 
Marchioness, the two latter representing the 
Yachtsmen's Association of Philadelphia. Mar^ 
garet, the winner, took time from Amorita, but 
the latter broke all records for the course, sailing 
to Bermuda in 78 hours, 19 minutes, and 15 
seconds. 

Motor boat racing for high-powered craft, a 
much more hazardous undertaking than wind- 
jamming over the New York-Bermuda course, 
was inaugurated in 1907, James Gordon Bennett 
of New York having presented a cup. There 
were two entries, — Ailsa Craig, owned j ointly by 
James Craig and Eben Stevens of the Motor Boat 
Club of America, and Idaho, 

Ailsa Craig won this race, also the contest of 
1908, her competitor that year being Irene II, 



198 BERMUDA PAST AND PRESENT 

owned by S. W. Granberry of the Motor Boat 
Club of America. The 1909 race drew four en- 
tries — Heather, owned by Richmond Levering of 
Cincinnati; Nereides II, by Francis Rogers of 
Camden, N. J. ; Ilys, by J. G. N. Whitaker of 
Philadelphia; Insep, by William G. Proctor of 
Cincinnati. The boats finished in the order named. 
Aside from their sporting features, the New 
York-Bermuda races have created a wide interest 
among naval architects. Valuable experience with 
regard to the structural qualities of ocean-going 
yachts has been acquired, and each year has wit- 
nessed the production of safer, faster, more suitable 
craft, with improved engines in the case of motor 
boats. At the same time the races have exerted a 
wholesome influence on the sport in Bermuda. 
The natives have learned that if they are to keep 
up with the nautical procession they must forego 
their old-fashioned, heavily built boats for others 
modelled in accordance with modern ideas, and 
the nucleus of a new fleet is already formed. 
American boats from the yards of noted designers 
have been imported, and the home builder has 
ceased to lay down craft of ancient pattern. The 
new order means, too, the passing of the leg-o'- 
mutton rig — it is not suited to fin keels and long 
overhangs — and though wrinkled boatmen may 
sigh at the thought they cannot stay the process 



BERMUDA DIVERSIONS 199 

of evolution. From a sentimental viewpoint it is 
a pity, for the rig seems as much a part of Ber- 
muda as the reefs. 

After yachting, in the eyes of the native, comes 
fishing as a mapne diversion. Rod and reel are 
practically unknown, for the larger fish make deep 
soundings and long hand lines — fifty fathoms in 
localities where the succulent red snapper feeds — 
are necessary. Some fishermen use heavy dinghies, 
but there is more comfort in a whaleboat or sloop 
fitted with a well for preserving the catch if a 
whole day at the reefs is contemplated. 

If Bermudians cannot offer tarpon at the 
angler's altar, at least they can name a dozen big 
fish which have the fighting instinct. The dean 
of all is the rockfish, running up to one hundred 
pounds, and when he is hooked you have on your 
hands a contest that burns the skin off tender 
fingers. The hogfish, chub, and amber fish, all of 
respectable weight, are game to the bone, and for 
downright treachery green and spotted morays, 
long, supple, and slimy, are to be commended. 
Israel, a leather-skinned fisherman of veracity, as 
fishermen go, often told how he and his partner, 
Toby, caught and lost a green moray the size 
of a man. Toby violated all ethics of the game by 
pulling the fish over the gunwale before it had 
been despatched, and both men were the objects 



£00 BERMUDA PAST AND PRESENT 

of a vicious attack. " To get rid of the devil," as 
Israel said, they shinned the mast and capsised 
the dinghy. Probably the yam was not overdrawn 
in some details. It is foolhardy to take liberties 
with the j aws of a green moray ; one that was 
captured for the New York Aquarium bit a piece 
ou^ of an inch plank in its struggle for liberty. 

More easily handled are the cub sharks, two or 
three feet long, that suddenly surround a boat 
at night, fighting, plunging, illuminating the 
phosphoric sea in their efforts to find a meal. 
When they come all other fishing suspends, but 
they enliven a whole evening with their voracious 
antics. The average person shudders at the sug- 
gestion of eating shark, but the highly spiced 
dish that a Bermuda cook can make of a sixpenny 
cub is not to be scorned. 

In June, when word goes out that the groupers 
are " snapping " in their spawning grounds along 
the south shore, there is the fastest kind of fishing. 
The fish are ravenous and reckless, biting at 
unbaited hooks, and one man's work is to string 
the captives by their mouths on a line kept over- 
board for the purpose. Thus " winded," or in- 
flated by contact with the air, they are towed 
ashore and put into reserve ponds to regain their 
strength and fatten for the market. Cub sharks 
sometimes add an exciting feature by their raids 



BERMUDA DIVERSIONS 201 

on the " winded " fish, but a more disagreeable 
adjunct is seasickness. Boatmen say that the 
person who can withstand the smell of bait and 
hours of tossing under a hot sun is qualified to be 
a useful member of a grouper crew. 

Some of the smaller fishes, such as breams, 
grunts, sailor's choice, grey snappers, and porgies 
are plentiful in shallow water, where it is possible 
to watch them nibble at the bait, but others are 
too shy to touch a hook, and must be trapped in 
"pots," which resemble cages, or taken in nets. 
The great variety of species, their habits, and bril- 
liant colouring, apart from their qualities as game, 
are sources of pleasure to the sportsman who 
reflects upon the peculiarities of Nature. 

Far be it from the Bermudian to devote his 
whole attention to the water. Cricket is his 
principal game, and there is a multiplicity of 
elevens, white, coloured, military, naval. At Rich- 
mond, the field of the Hamilton Cricket Club, 
teams from Philadelphia, the home of American 
cricket, are occasionally entertained. There is 
great rivalry between the coloured elevens, but 
they play the game with its accustomed etiquette, 
and good cricket it is. 

The Hamilton Golf Club has a nine-hole course 
at Spanish Point, to which followers of that game 
are welcome, and there are military links at Pros- 



202 BERMUDA PAST AND PRESENT 

pect and St. George's. Tennis and football are 
well supported, while Americans even find oppor- 
tunities for baseball. The bicycle is an important 
factor in transportation, and there is no better 
way to see the islands than awheel, always re- 
membering that the rule of the road is left instead 
of right, as in the United States. 

Good mounts are available, interest in riding 
having led to a revival of racing under the auspices 
of the iSermuda Hunt Club, whose course is at 
Shelly Bay. Race meetings bring out a procession 
of carriages, buggies, wagons, donkey traps, and 
bicycles, not to speak of those who use shank's 
mare, for. His Excellency the Governor having 
" lent his patronage " to the " Bermuda Derby," 
there is valid excuse for a general holiday. In 
the promotion of sport the Bermudian receives 
generous assistance from the officers and men of 
the army and navy. Tommy Atkins might grow 
discontented if his recreations were curtailed and 
the men in command encourage him to exchange 
the familiar scarlet and khaki tunics for flannels 
and running suits. Rank is forgotten on the 
cricket and football field, officers and men playing 
together for the honour of the sport. Soldiers and 
sailors, too, have their theatricals, minstrels, and 
camp fires, all of which help to break the monotony 
of foreign service. At their various messes officers 



BERMUDA DIVERSIONS 203 

of the regular establishment extend hospitality to 
visitors with proper credentials, and they are not 
outdone in this respect by the native officers of 
the Bermuda Militia Artillery and Volunteer Rifle 
Corps. 



CHAPTER XII 

METHOD OF GOVERNMENT 

Bermudians govern themselves through the me- 
dium of a Colonial Parliament, consisting of the 
House of Assembly, a body of thirty-six elected 
members, and the Legislative Council of nine 
members, who are appointed by the Crown. The 
Governor and Commander-in-Chief, usually a 
lieutenant-general either of the Royal Artillery 
or Engineers, is also a Crown appointee, serving 
from three to five years. 

The census of 1901 gave the population as 
17,535, the divisions being as follows: White — 
male, 3149; female, 3234; coloured — ^male, 
5457 ; female, 5695. The proportion of coloured 
to white is, therefore, nearly two to one. It is 
probable that the population at the present time 
numbers a little more than 19,000, not including 
the naval and military establishments, which ag- 
gregate about 2200 persons. In fifty years the 
population has nearly doubled, and it is possible 
that Bermuda could comfortably support many 
more people if agriculture were established on a 
firm basis. 

Political and economic codes handed down 



METHOD OF GOVERNMENT 205 

through generations have produced some anoma- 
lies which are worthy of attention. Any man, 
white or coloured, is qualified to stand for elec- 
tion to the House of Assembly if he possesses a 
freehold rated at £M0 ($1200), the rating being 
the actual value of the property, and he may be a 
candidate in any parish. To exercise the franchise 
a man must receive the profits of a freehold rated 
at £60 ($300). In this connection a husband is 
entitled to be registered in respect of his wife's 
real estate, and a voter holding property in two 
or more parishes may vote in those parishes. Thus 
a freeholder may have several votes. 

Each of the nine parishes returns four members 
to the Assembly, without regard to the size of their 
respective constituencies, and while this system of 
distribution is contrary to the recognised princi- 
ple that a small number of voters shall not have 
the same parliamentary representation as a larger 
number, it is satisfactory to the Bermudians inas- 
much as it equalises the voice of each parish in the 
affairs of government and prevents that concen- 
tration of administration which is so much to be 
feared in a small colony having representative 
institutions. The tenacity with which the older 
famiHes have retained their holdings, and the 
absence of thrift on the part of the working class 
are factors which have operated to concentrate 



206 BERMUDA PAST AND PRESENT 

property in the hands of a comparatively few In- 
dividuals, and notwithstanding the small sum neces- 
sary to enable a man to qualify as a voter, there 
were in 1908 only 1298 electors, of which 852 were 
white and 446 coloured. 

These are the men who actually rule Bermuda 
through their chosen representatives, but the very 
land which gives property holders the right to 
vote is not taxed for purposes of general revenue, 
and the monetary support they extend to the 
government is not greater than that given by 
their tenants, to whom political privileges are de- 
nied. That is to say, tenant as well as landlord, 
pays his share of indirect taxation through the 
tariff, which provides the bulk of revenue. The 
property holder, however, supports certain parish 
and municipal enterprises, but his assessments are 
exceedingly small, by comparison with other coun- 
tries, and he lives as nearly tax free as he might 
wish. One might say almost without contradic- 
tion that the Bermudian's burden of taxes is the 
lightest in existence. 

In recent years aliens have been allowed to ac- 
quire property, but they are not permitted to vote 
on it, although subjected to parochial assessments 
and jury duty. Before the alien law was enacted 
the property of a woman who married an alien 
might pass to the government by escheat, and this 



METHOD OF GOVERNMENT 207 

legal obstacle was supposed to have prevented 
some women from marrying outside of Bermuda. 
At all events, the islands once were credited with 
an excess of " old maids," but the roving nature 
of the men in old days may have had as much to 
do with female celibacy as the law. With the 
beginning of more cordial relations between Great 
Britain and the United States in the Spanish- 
American war period, Bermuda ceased to be re- 
garded primarily as a fortress, and this circum- 
stancej combined with the disposition of Americans 
to maintain winter residences there, was responsi- 
ble for a more liberal policy toward aliens. The 
alien legislation, however, is not intended to en- 
courage the acquisition of property for specu- 
lative purposes, and attempts in this direction 
would be frustrated by the Governor in Council, 
in whom is vested power to approve or disapprove 
purchases by persons who hold allegiance to 
countries other than Great Britain. The total 
area of land held by aliens cannot, under the law, 
exceed 2000 acres. 

General elections are held every seven years, but 
as the electoral body is too small to demand the 
aid of party machinery, political contests are mat- 
ters of individuals rather than of policies. Mem- 
bers of the house are therefore free to serve their 
constituents without interference from partisan 



208 BERMUDA PAST AND PRESENT 

sources. Although the office carries a salary of 
eight shillings ($2) for each day's attendance, 
this sum merely covers travelling expenses in the 
case of the majority; accordingly, the honour of 
service is the chief reward held out to the 
candidate. 

Public office attracts, as it has always, members 
of the more conspicuous families, and notwith- 
standing the disparity of electors, the legislators 
generally are amenable to public opinion when 
vital issues are concerned, rarely failing in the 
long run to accomplish their duty toward the 
people as a whole. The very fact that the public 
debt adequately guaranteed amounts only to 
£46,500 ($232,500), and the additional fact that 
the colony is self-supporting and able to meet its 
yearly obligations, are indications of conservatism 
in legislation and proof of the Bermudian's 
capacity for self-government. 

The revenue is derived from ad valorem duties 
amounting to ten per cent, from moderate specific 
duties, from lighthouse tolls (paid by incoming 
ships), receipts of the postal establishment, court 
and office fees, and miscellaneous items. Out of 
the revenue are supported legislative, judicial, and 
customs establishments, an island constabulary, 
jails, a lunatic asylum, library, museum, and ex- 
periment garden; and the government engages 



: il 

ft — — -- 



METHOD OF GOVERNMENT 209 

in public works and maintains approximately one 
hundred miles of good roads, of which the colony 
is justly proud. A fair proportion of the ex- 
pense for the executive branch of government is 
also borne by the colony. 

In explanation of the accompanying table of 
revenue and expenditure, it may be said that the 
year 1906 was one of financial crisis, due to a 
combination of unexpected circumstances, and to 
meet the deficit and to provide for future con- 
tingencies, the Legislature found it necessary to 
increase the ad valorem duty from five to ten per 
cent. 





Revenue 


Expenditure 


1904 . 


. £63,457 ($317,285) 


£61,133 ($305,665) 


1905 . 


. £53,321 ($266,605) 


£65,307 ($326,535) 


1906 . 


. £53,213 ($266,065) 


£69,064 ($345,320) 


1907 . 


. £61,140 ($305,700) 


£59,191 ($295,955) 


1908 . 


. £59,803 ($299,015) 


£52,904 ($264,520) 



Dating from 1620, the Colonial Parliament is 
one of the oldest law-making bodies in existence. 
In the beginning legislative functions of the colo- 
nists were subject to the by-laws and regulations 
of the Bermuda Company, but with the abrogation 
of the company's charter the power of the House 
was greatly extended, as its duties, instead of 
mainly concerning the private affairs of the pro- 
prietors, took cognisance of the whole field of posi- 

14 



210 BERMUDA PAST AND PRESENT 

tive law. Controversies between the Assembly and 
various governors arose upon occasions, particu- 
larly during the American War of the Revolution, 
but their differences usually related to matters 
political, and no serious constitutional question 
was ever raised. No constitutional change, in fact 
no change of any importance, has taken place 
in the House since the company's charter was 
annulled. 

What may be termed the constitutional privi- 
leges of the House of Commons, the right to grant 
supplies, to appropriate grants, to claim redress 
of grievances before supplies are granted, seem 
always to have been among the admitted privileges 
of the House of Assembly. The Council is the 
lineal descendant of the company's Council, which 
was appointed by the Governor, sat with the As- 
sembly, and concerned itself with the enforcement 
of the law. After 1683 the Council was appointed 
by the Crown, and until 1888 it sat not only as the 
upper branch of the Parliament, but as the Gov- 
ernor's advisory body, giving assent in the latter 
capacity to bills passed by the House of Assembly. 
The law of 1888 created two councils, — one legis- 
lative, the other executive, both having certain 
members in common. Latterly, one or two mem- 
bers of the House have been appointed to the 
Executive Council while retaining their elective 



METHOD OF GOVERNMENT 211 

offices. Membership of the Legislative Council 
includes the chief justice, who acts as president, 
the colonial secretary and receiver general, the 
theory being that these officials, by their contact 
with administrative affairs, are peculiarly fitted to 
mould legislation. 

The work of the Legislature is distinguished by 
the absence of those methods of obstruction which 
sometimes find favour in the House of Commons 
and in the Congress of the United States. Bills 
may be introduced in either House, with this im- 
portant exception: that bills involving the ex- 
penditure of public money must originate in the 
House of Assembly, and with regard to these 
bills the Council has only the power of acceptance 
or rejection in toto, not of amendment on details. 
By this rule public expenditures are placed in 
the hands of representatives of the voting class. 

Bills are read three times in the House, the 
discussion taking place on the second reading, 
when the members go into the committee of the 
whole to consider details. This procedure permits 
a member to address the* chair as frequently as he 
pleases, and there is less formality than in the 
House, for with the speaker in the chair a member 
may speak only once, although the original mover 
is privileged to speak once in reply. 

After passing three readings a bill is sent to the 



212 BERMUDA PAST AND PRESENT 

other legislative branch for concurrence. There 
it passes through similar stages, and, if amended, 
is sent back to the House in which it originated. 
If this House concurs, no complications arise ; if it 
does not, the other House has the option of insist- 
ing upon its changes or accepting the measure 
in its original form. It it insists, the bill is lost; 
if it does not insist, the bill is passed and laid before 
the Governor, who usually gives his assent unless 
there has been some informality in the manner of 
introduction. 

Unless there is a " suspending clause " the bill 
then becomes law, but if such a clause is attached, 
providing that " this act shall not come into opera- 
tion until His Majesty's pleasure has been made 
known concerning the same," the measure awaits 
the royal pleasure before enactment. The sus- 
pending clause is not on every bill, but is usually 
added to measures of great public importance, or 
those which make drastic changes in the existing 
law. 

Local aifairs in the parishes are conducted by 
" vestries," which are chosen yearly by the electors. 
The vestries have charge of the relief of the poor 
and pauper lunatics, acting also as local boards 
of health. To carry out these objects they are 
empowered to impose assessments on real estate. 

The parochial system is an ancient institution, 



METHOD OF GOVERNMENT 213 

dating back to the days of settlement. When no 
church or denomination was recognised by law 
except the Church of England, the vestries were 
authorised to raise money for the maintenance of 
the parish churches and ministry by an assessment 
of all property held by persons in connection with 
the Established Church and others, and pew rents 
were appropriated to the relief of the poor and 
various secular purposes. In 1867, however, it 
was deemed just to exonerate from liability to 
assessment for the Church of England all persons 
who contributed toward the maintenance of other 
churches. Elective bodies called church vestries 
were thereupon instituted to control all matters 
pertaining to the Church of England, and pew 
rents were restricted exclusively to the use of 
parish churches. The vestries were also per- 
mitted to assess communicants when pew rents 
proved insufficient to maintain church and clergy. 
Grants by the government to the Church of 
England have practically ceased, and the Bermuda 
Church Society, organised in 1876 to accumulate 
a fund for the benefit of the clergy, has taken the 
place of the Treasury, thus fulfilling the purposes 
of its founders, who saw the necessity of providing 
against the day when legislative aid would no 
longer be forthcoming. Bermuda is attached to 
the See of Newfoundland, and the Established 



£14 BERMUDA PAST AND PRESENT 

Church holds the premier position; but other re- 
ligious bodies, more particularly the Wesleyan 
Methodist, Presbyterian, and African Methodist, 
are strong numerically and possess valuable prop- 
erty, which is held either by trust, deed, or special 
act of the Legislature. 

Only within recent years has Bermuda possessed 
any but an archaic judicial system. While the 
Bermuda Company existed, certain members of 
the Council performed the duties of chief justice, 
and practically all the jurisdiction was on the 
common law side, with juries to hear the cases. 
A few years after the abolition of the company a 
chief justice was appointed, the court holding the 
lengthy title of " King's Bench Oyer and Terminer 
and Gaol Delivery," and taking cognisance of both 
civil and criminal matters. 

Later, the Governor in Council began to exer- 
cise equitable functions, sitting as a Court of 
Chancery, and in many cases affording relief to. 
parties to whom justice was not forthcoming in 
the King's Bench by reason of the highly technical 
nature of the pleading and practice in this court. 
In 1744 the Legislature abolished appeals to the 
Governor in Council as the Court of Chancery, 
but estabHshed the same body as the Court of 
Errors to hear appeals from the common law 
court (King's Bench). Thus there was the 



METHOD OF GOVERNMENT 215 

anomaly of the Governor in Council — a purely 
lay body — exercising a jurisdiction as the Court 
of Chancery concurrent with the common law court, 
as well as a superior jurisdiction at common law 
as the Court of Appeal from the King's Bench. 
Naturally, inconveniences arose from this state of 
affairs, and they influenced the work of the court 
so late as the year 1908. 

The courts continued to exist as set forth, with 
statutory changes in detail only, until 1814, when 
the Legislature fused all common law jurisdictions 
into one court, that of General Assize, and brought 
the practice up to the English standard of that 
date. In 1876 the equity jurisdiction was taken 
from the Governor in Council and placed in the 
Court of Assize, though the former body still con- 
tinued to hear appeals from the latter. The great 
difficulty which faced the common law courts lay 
in the complicated nature of their rules and regula- 
tions. Up to the latter part of the eighteenth 
century the pleadings, or statements of fact relied 
upon by either party to a cause and filed by them 
before action were in Latin, and practically up to 
1904 technical errors in pleadings were fatal to 
clients, who had to start afresh after paying costs 
already incurred. 

From time to time acts were passed with the 
purpose of simplifying the work of dispensing 



216 BERMUDA PAST AND PRESENT 

justice, but they were of little value, and the old 
order continued until Chief Justice GoUan ar- 
rived from England in 1904. He proceeded to 
rip up the planks of ancient fabric, and the Legis- 
lature, at his suggestion, merged all courts, 
whether common law or chancery, into one, 
termed the Supreme Court, fused law and equity, 
and gave the court power to make rules governing 
the pleading and practice. As a consequence, the 
technicahties of former days have disappeared, 
and the court's business is despatched with greater 
facility. 

The last change in the judicial system took 
place in 1908. Then the Legislature abolished 
the Court of Errors, which had subsisted in the 
Governor in Council for upward of one hundred 
and seventy years, and directed that in future all 
appeals should be from the Supreme Court direct 
to the King in Council. 



CHAPTER Xni 



RESOURCES 



Bermuda's sole industry is agriculture, the de- 
velopment of which began in earnest after the 
fictitiously prosperous years of blockade running. 
American and Canadian tourists contribute a large 
sum annually to the colony's wealth, and the ex- 
penditure of the naval and military establishments, 
though somewhat reduced of late years through 
the policy of home concentration adopted by the 
War Office, still represents a valuable asset. The 
coahng of tramp steamers is another business 
which should assume large proportions if proper 
advantage is taken of opportunities which must 
certainly present themselves, after the opening of 
the Panama Canal, and are even now existent. 

Staple productions are onions, potatoes, green 
vegetables, arrowroot, and Easter lily bulbs, cul- 
tivation of the latter for commercial purposes 
having been started in the eighties by the late 
Gen. Russell Hastings, an American soldier, who 
made his home in Bermuda. The bulk of the 
produce goes to New York, the colony's natural 
market, but prices fluctuate to such an extent that 
the farmers are no longer assured of a profit. 



£18 BERMUDA PAST AND PRESENT 

For a succession of years Bermudians practically 
had a monopoly of the early onion market, but 
now they meet the increasing competition of 
Texas growers, who farm on a large scale, with 
the advantage of a high protective tariff and an 
efficient system of distribution; and it seems only 
a question of time when Texas will eliminate Ber- 
muda as a factor in this industry, or compel the 
islanders to enter into a selling combination. The 
colonial authorities appreciate the gravity of the 
situation, but little or no progress has been made 
in promoting the cultivation of crops which would 
render the growers independent to a large extent 
of their major products, onions and potatoes. 

From experiments conducted at the Public 
Garden it is reasonable to assume that citrus 
fruits, bananas, strawberries, avocado pears, va- 
nilla, tobacco, and even India rubber, might be 
produced in quantities for export, but the problem 
of leading the planter in the right direction is 
a complicated one. It is frankly expressed in the 
report of the Board of Agriculture for 1906, 
which says: 

" The department . . . has . . . before it the 
task of correcting the evil effects of fifty years' 
neglect of our one industry on the one hand 
and of the dependence of the populace upon 
external, and, of course, uncertain sources of 



RESOURCES 219 

revenue on the other. It would be reasonable to 
assume that if Bermuda had not been maintained 
as a fortress by the Imperial Government, spend- 
ing large sums of money on army, navy, and 
dockyard, the brains and brawn of the colony 
would have remained on the land and developed 
agriculture. 

" Here we have the most remarkable and prob- 
ably the most valuable climate in the world, within 
two days' sail of the very best market, utterly 
wasted for want of expert agriculturalists and 
sufficient capital. . . . The climate that will sup- 
port the rankest vegetation all the year round in 
comparatively sterile soil is worth experimenting 
upon; and indications point to the possibility of 
our being able to turn to profitable account the 
vegetative energy that has for many years been 
permitted to waste. 

"... The combination of excessive atmos- 
pheric pressure, intensified light, and equable 
temperature make up a set of conditions that 
tend to develop those forces in plants which per- 
tain to the vegetative; that is, directly opposed 
to those conducive to the large production of 
large crops of seeds. Thus we see immense corn 
stalks and half-filled cobs ; gigantic avocado pear 
trees covered with dense foliage but no seeds ; 
mango trees that have ceased to bear; grape- 



220 BERMUDA PAST AND PRESENT 

vines rampant with but little fruit; rank growth 
in vegetables, such as potatoes, carrots, beets, 
celery, cabbages, etc., etc. ; large onions — if the 
temperature refrained from rising above the maxi- 
mum for this crop; large banana plants with 
heavy bunches — for the banana is all vegetation, 
since no seeds are produced; and heavy crops of 
weeds that spring up in a few days. . . . 

" Probably in no other country in the world 
can there be found, growing and fruiting, so 
many different kinds of fruit trees ; fruits both 
temperate and tropical grow here with the great- 
est luxuriance and attain the highest perfection. 
Several of the tropical kinds, however, grow with 
such vigour that unless root pruning be regularly 
carried out the trees fail to yield an annual crop 
of fruit; some individual trees indeed have quite 
given up bearing fruit and expend the whole of 
their energies upon the development of leaves 
and branches ; more especially is this so where 
they are found growing in deep and sheltered 
valleys. 

" Here again our unique climate is absolutely 
wasted, and might, during the past forty or fifty 
years, have been utilised in producing choice fruits 
for the New York market at a season of the year 
when they are not obtainable elsewhere. What 
Bermuda might have been if the proper attention 



RESOURCES 221 

had been paid to agriculture it is not very diffi- 
cult to conceive; one has only to imagine each 
cultivated valley surrounded by the choicest varie- 
ties of all kinds of fruit trees — planted in the 
zone between the deepest soil and the rocky hill- 
sides, where excessive vegetation is not possible — 
to gain some idea of the terrific waste of valuable 
forces that has been going on all these years." 

Waste of valuable forces means the science of 
agriculture disregarded and acres of good land 
untilled. The ancient Bermuda mariner was wise 
in his generation, inasmuch as he brought home 
with him from foreign lands a variety of useful 
trees, not the least of which were the orange and 
peach. These were put into the ground and left 
to grow without cultivation. They flourished, 
seedlings were propagated, and the islands, half 
a century ago, were well supplied with oranges 
and peaches, not to speak of other fruits. But in 
the course of time the fruit fly was unknowingly 
imported to attack the plantations, and not until 
it had ruined practically every tree was a serious 
attempt made to check its ravages. The result 
of this neglect is apparent to-day. A valuable 
source of income has been thrown away, and not 
enough fruit for home consumption is produced. 

About 2600 acres are under cultivation; sev- 
eral thousand more might be utilised if adequate 



222 BERMUDA PAST AND PRESENT 

capital were available; but with his limited re- 
sources the planter hesitates to experiment with 
unfamiliar crops or to increase his acreage. His 
outlay for labour is large, owin^ to heavy field 
work necessitated by rapid growth of weeds ; he 
is handicapped by American tariff impositions 
and loose methods of marketing, all of which help 
to make him dependent on those who supply him 
with the money and foodstuffs that represent a 
crop mortgage. On the other hand, he is, gener- 
ally speaking, far from being a scientific farmer. 
He has allowed his soil to deteriorate, his efforts 
have often been misdirected, and he has not co- 
operated intelligently with the Public Garden, 
whose power to assist him has thereby been 
weakened. Furthermore, the farmer's insularity 
has prevented him from keeping in touch with 
the progress of other countries in his field of 
labor. 

But the fault may not be laid entirely at his 
door. Back of the farmer's problem lies that of 
education. The colony pays too little attention 
to the training of its youth. Education is com- 
pulsory, it is true, the government aiding about 
twenty-five primary schools, which are actually 
private institutions and exact small fees from 
their pupils ; but teachers are poorly trained and 
underpaid, and the instruction they impart em- 



RESOURCES 223 

braces only the most rudimentary subjects. Sev- 
eral secondary schools exist, but these reach only 
the wealthier class, and the average Bermuda boy 
is taught in much the same manner as was his 
grandfather. If he learns anything, it is not be- 
cause of educational opportunities but in spite of 
them. 

Until the colony provides a better and broader 
system, embodying courses in agriculture and other 
vocational subjects, there will probably be no per- 
manent improvement in farming methods. With 
a suitable educational system, designed to meet the 
colony's needs, there is every reason to suppose 
that scientific experimentation and suggestion, so 
far as it related to agriculture, would be more 
readily accepted and digested by the growing 
generation; and, following the question out to 
its logical conclusion, a more enterprising, well- 
informed body of farmers would eventually take 
hold of the soil. It might even be profitable at 
the present time to take men straight from the 
farms and have them trained in agricultural col- 
leges in the United States and Canada. The suc- 
cess of the American student of agriculture could 
be repeated in Bermuda, without a doubt. For- 
tunately the colony is eligible for appointments 
to Oxford under the Rhodes Trust, and no doubt 
holders of these scholarships from Bermuda will, 



224 BERMUDA PAST AND PRESENT 

in the future, be influential in promoting more 
desirable educational methods. 

It would be unjust to give the impression that 
all Bermuda farmers are poor agriculturalists. 
Some, indeed, particularly the green vegetable 
growers, having adopted modem methods, realise 
fair profits, but there exists a large, unprogres- 
sive class, which includes Portuguese immigrants, 
who began to resort to the islands from the Azores 
in the latter part of the last century. In 1909 
the Agricultural Commission, appointed by the 
Governor to investigate the situation, emphasised 
the fact that the Portuguese, while industrious, 
were lacking in the necessary education that would 
enable them to compete with trained agricultural- 
ists. A great number were in poor circumstances, 
and many had exhausted the credit advanced to 
them by produce dealers. The commission re- 
ported that nine tenths of the cultivable land was 
" under the direct management, in small lots, of 
persons as a rule less capable than agricultural 
laborers of other countries." 

Recoignising the fact that the farmer must be 
educated, the commission suggested that four typi- 
cal plots of ground be set aside in separate par- 
ishes as demonstration stations, including school 
gardens for children and teachers; also, that the 
services of a lecturer in agricultural science be 



RESOURCES 225 

engaged. Undoubtedly this would be a step in 
the right direction, and much benefit would accrue 
to the colony if the commission's ideas were put 
into practice. 

Progress in other lines is certain to help the 
farmer. The phenomenal growth of the tourist 
business simultaneously with the decline in the 
value of exports has opened a home market for 
fruits and vegetables which may be sold daily for 
cash to hotels and boarding-houses. The extent 
of the tourist traffic is seen in the fact that Ber- 
muda entertained more than 9000 visitors in the 
season of 1908-9, and that fully $1,000,000 in 
American money was distributed throughout the 
colony. It is doubtful, however, in view of the 
increasing population, whether the people could 
live by the proceeds of the tourist trade, and even 
if this were possible it would not be sound eco- 
nomic policy to do so. The colony should be pre- 
pared to take advantage of its agricultural re- 
sources, if through an epidemic of disease or other 
unlooked-for causes the tourist trade should sud- 
denly fail, and to that end the necessary education 
and experimentation should be vigorously pursued. 

Competition of transportation companies, ad- 
vertising campaigns, and the complete change in 
two days from the rigours of a northern winter 
15 



226 BERMUDA PAST AND PRESENT 

are factors in the development of the tourist trade. 
Two steamship lines from New York and one from 
Halifax, with frequent sailings and low rates, to- 
gether with the proximity of the islands to the 
western metropolis, give them an exceptional ad- 
vantage over other foreign winter resorts ; they 
have also direct passenger service with Great 
Britain, wherein lies a possible market for the 
onion. 

The hotels compare favourably in size and ap- 
pointments with those of other resorts, and each 
year more luxurious accommodations are provided 
for that class of the travelling public which Ber- 
muda desires to entertain. In this connection the 
authorities are alive to the wisdom and necessity 
of safeguarding the health of the permanent and 
transient population through efficient sanitary 
regulations. The colony's remarkable immunity 
from epidemics of any description in the past 
forty years testifies to the efficacy of the health 
laws as well as to favourable climatic conditions. 

No one need have fears about the drinking 
water. It comes down from the clouds through 
an uncontaminated atmosphere, falls upon coral 
roofs, which are tarred and lime-washed, and is 
impounded in closed tanks or cisterns, built of 
the same stone, each dwelling-house and hotel hav- 
ing its own private supply, the purity of which 




SCREW PINE, PUBLIC GARDEN, ST. GEORGE'S 



RESOURCES 227 

is unquestioned. If a large supply is needed, a 
natural water catch may be formed by digging 
the soil from the side of a hill, and white-washing 
the exposed rock, and by exercising simple sani- 
tary precautions wholesome water is assured at 
all seasons. 

An undoubted source of prosperity for Ber- 
muda lies in its favourable position with regard 
to trade routes leading to the Panama Canal and 
the Gulf of Mexico, and the colony has decided 
to improve its port facilities with the view of 
becoming a great coahng station, rivalling, per- 
haps, Newport News, to which merchant steamers 
now resort on their way to the gulf. Under pres- 
ent conditions steamers calling at Bermuda for 
coal must anchor in open roadsteads such as Five 
Fathom Hole or Murray's Anchorage off St. 
George's, or else go to Grassy Bay, the naval 
anchorage at the dockyard, which is twelve miles 
from the channel entrance and cannot be reached 
after sunset. The manifest results of an attempt 
to utilise these facilities are inconvenience and the 
loss of time ; and thus it happens that while scores 
of steamers pass the islands every month, only 
those in dire necessity call for coal, others pre- 
ferring to take advantage of facilities at Newport 
News. 

Hamilton cannot be made a coaling port because 



228 BERMUDA PAST AND PRESENT 

its harbour is too small and too far from the open 
sea; it is proved beyond a shadow of doubt that 
steamers cannot be quickly accommodated in the 
roadsteads; the question is therefore narrowed 
down to providing a deep channel for the land- 
locked harbour of St. George's, which is commo- 
dious, affords good holding ground, and is but 
fifteen minutes' sail from the open sea. 

The situation of Bermuda demands improvement 
in its port facilities. Routes to the Panama Canal 
will lie through the Mona Passage, west of Porto 
Rico, if from Great Britain or the north of 
Europe, and either through the Mona Passage or 
by way of St. Thomas, if from the Mediterranean. 
These routes are respectively 4353 and 4347 miles 
in length, and pass from 450 to 500 miles to the 
southward of Bermuda. Stopping at Bermuda, 
steamers would thence go through the Windward 
Passage, east of Cuba, the distance being ap- 
proximately 4600 miles from Europe to the canal 
entrance. 

Bermuda is nearly on the Great Circle route 
from Europe to the Gulf of Mexico, and there 
would be no appreciable increase in the distance 
due to calling there. From Europe to Newport 
News the distance is 3320 miles, and from the 
latter port to the canal 1800 miles, a total of 
6120, or 620 miles longer than the route via 



RESOURCES 229 

Bermuda. Part of this increased distance lies 
through opposing currents. The advantage New- 
port News now possesses as a port of call is the 
relative cheapness of coal there, in combination 
with facilities for putting it on board. If, how- 
ever, Bermuda can provide similar appliances for 
loading, as well as cheap coal, its attraction for 
shipmasters who desire to save time and the dis- 
tance of 520 miles becomes apparent. 

Concerning the Panama routes, a distinguished 
authority on maritime matters, after exhaustive 
investigation as far back as 1899, was moved to 
say in the London Times that Bermuda " is very 
nearly the same distance as from London to Port 
Said, and as steamers often go from London to 
Port Said without coalinjg, so, if ever a maritime 
canal is made across the isthmus, Bermuda will 
bear something like the same relation to it for 
coaling purposes that Port Said does to the Suez 
Canal." 

For thirty years the whole subject of adequate 
port arrangements has been agitated in Bermuda, 
and the sponsors for the St. George's Channel 
scheme, at first in the minority, have, despite 
many discouraging defeats in the Legislature, 
brought to their side the majority of the popula- 
tion. It would lead too far into local and even 
Imperial politics to give reasons for the delay in 



230 BERMUDA PAST AND PRESENT 

throwing open the port of St. George's to com- 
merce; suffice it to say that in 1908 the Legisla- 
ture, with the approval of the home authorities, 
adopted a financial scheme which will provide funds 
for the project. The port will be made available 
for steamers of heavy draught at all hours of the 
day or night, either by deepening the existing 
channel or by deepening and widening what is 
known as the Town Cut Channel, and they will 
be able to take coal and be at sea again three 
hours after their arrival. In a few years the 
channel should be completed, and then the colony 
will be able to realise on what may prove to be 
its most important commercial asset. Future 
necessities of the British mercantile marine, based 
on the commerce that will flow through the Pan- 
ama Canal, would be sufficient justification for the 
speedy completion of the project, even if Bermuda 
were to receive no benefit from it, and this fact 
may have prompted the approval of the Imperial 
Government, after a long period of hesitancy. 



64°50' 



Green Flat 



I A 



N 



Brackish Pond 
Flats 




Cow Ground 
Flat 



Daniel's Head Long 



SOMERSET' 



L.L. POATES ENGRAVING CO, 



J Sinky Bay 



64 50 



Longitude 



West 



4°45' 



64°40' 




II y Bay 



BERMUDA 18. 





SCALE OF MILES 









1 2 

SCALE OF KILOMETERS 




- -h 


1 


2 3 


1 


5 


Eoads == 


=, Parish Boundaries 






4"45' 



from 



Greenwich 



64°40' 



COPYRIGHT, 1910, BY DODD MEAD & CO. 



USEFUL FACTS FOR THE TRAVELLER 

Bermuda has direct steam communication with New 
York, St. John, N. B., Halifax, N. S., the West Indies and 
Great Britain, as follows: 

Quebec Steamship Company. 

Sailings from Pier 47, North River, New York, every 
Wednesday and Satm'day in the season. 

A. E. Outerbridge & Co., agents, 29 Broadway, New 
York. 

Watlington & Conyers, agents, Hamilton, Bermuda. 

Royal Mail Steamship Company. 

Sailings every Wednesday from Pier 50, North River, 
New York. 

Sanderson & Son, agents, 22 State Street, New York. 
W. T. James & Co., agents, Hamilton, Bermuda. 

PiCKFORD & Black Steamship Company. 

West Indies and Demarara service. Leave St. John, 
N. B., and Halifax, N. S., and Bermuda every twelve days. 
W. T. James & Co., agents, Hamilton, Bermuda. 

London for Bermuda about every four weeks. 
Henry Langridge & Co., agents, 16 Gt. St. Helen's E. C, 
London. 

W. T. James & Co., agents, Hamilton, Bermuda. 



232 BERMUDA PAST AND PRESENT 

Imperial Direct West India Mail Service Com- 
pany, Ltd. 

Sailings between Bristol, England, and Bermuda every 
six weeks. 

Elder, Dempster & Co., agents. Head Office, Colonial 
House, Liverpool, England. 

W. T. James & Co., agents, Hamilton, Bermuda. 

English money is the legal tender of Bermuda, but 
American greenbacks and gold of the smaller denomina- 
tions are generally accepted at their face value by mer- 
chants. Letters of credit may be addressed to the Bank of 
Bermuda and N. T. Butterfield & Son, whose facilities are 
at the disposal of travellers. Check books issued by tourist 
agencies and express companies are used to a large extent by 
visitors. 

Rates of postage for letters to Great Britain are two 
cents (one English penny) an ounce or fraction thereof; to 
the United States, five cents (twopence halfpenny) an 
ounce or fraction thereof; for each additional ounce or 
fraction thereof, three cents. Pictorial post cards carry a 
one-cent stamp, if they bear only the sender's initials. 
Inland letters are carried for two cents (one penny) an 
ounce. 

The islands are in touch with other parts of the world 
through the Halifax and Bermudas cable and the Direct 
West India cables. 



Livery Rates. 

Bicycle, 24 cents (one shilling) an hour; 36 cents (one 
shilling and sixpence) for two hours; 50 cents (two shil- 



USEFUL FACTS FOR THE TRAVELLER 233 

lings and one penny) for half a day; $2.50 a week; $8 a 
month. 

Carriage, single, holding three passengers and driver, 
$1 an hour and 50 cents for each hour thereafter; per 
diem, $4 to $5. Double, holding five passengers and driver, 
$2 for first hour, $1 for each hour thereafter; per diem, 
$8 to $10. Rates are quoted for drives to certain fixed 
points. 

Sailboats, including pilot, $1 an hour, $5 to $6 a day; 
for fishing excursions, $7 to $8 a day. Boats carry from 
six to twelve passengers. Rowboats, 24 to 36 cents an hour 
without man; with man, 50 cents an hour. 

Motor boats and glass-bottomed boats for sea-garden 
excursions may also be hired. 

Hotels and Boarding Houses. 
City of Hamilton. 

Hamilton Hotel, William A. Barron, manager; accom- 
modations for 600 persons. New York office, 1180 Broad- 
way, also 389 Fifth Avenue. 

Princess Hotel, Howe & Tworoger, managers; accom- 
modations for 400 persons. 

American House, A. Pascal, manager. 

The Windsor, A. A. Moore, manager. 

The Kenwood, Allan McNicol, manager. 

Imperial Hotel, Joseph Lee, manager. 

The Oleander, James Fort. 

Phoenix Apartments, F. W. Grantham. 

Victoria Lodge, Miss K. E. Smith. 

Cedarhurst, Mrs. E. Harrington. 

Washington House, H. Gady. 



234 BERMUDA PAST AND PRESENT 

Sunny Brae, Mrs. E. W. Wolff. 
Hillside, Mrs. R. Bradley. 
Nokomis Inn, Mrs. A. F. Cook. 

Pembroke. 
Grassmere, N. E. Lusher. 

Paget. 

Newstead, Paget West, Mrs. M. E. Bradley. \ 
Inverurie, Paget West, H. B. Koster. 
Abbotsford, Paget East, Hilliard Bell. 
The Netherlands, Paget East, Miss Davis. 

Warwick. 

Mrs. A. E. Conyers. 
Spithead, James H. Lindley. 
Belmont, F. A. Balch. 
Southcote, Misses Smith. 

Hamilton Parish. 

Harrington House, on Harrington Sound, W. S. Co 
Peniston. 
Seaward, Bailey's Bay, J. D. Seon. 

Flatt's Village. 

Frascati, Alonzo Peniston. 

St. George's. 

Hotel St. George, Philip Manson, proprietor; accom- 
modations for 100 persona. New York office, 1180 
Broadway. 



USEFUL FACTS FOR THE TRAVELLER 235 

Globe Hotel, Spurling Brothers. 
Kington House, Mrs. Rankin. 
Wellesley Lodge, Miss Bruce. 
Mount Eyrie, S. Todd. 
Station View, Miss Outerbridge. 
Hill Crest, Mrs. Greig. 
Block House, Mrs. Hay ward. 
Burch Castle, Mrs. Thomas. 

Hotel rates range from $2.50 a day upward, while the 
terms of boarding houses are from $10 to $25 a week. 



INDEX 



Admiral's residence, 151 

Agriculture, 35, 36, 71, 217 

Aliens, rights of, 207 

American, civil war, 72; Con- 
gress, 37, 48, 49, 52; consul, 
78, 80, 85, 98, 99; prisoners, 
50, 51, 63, 65, 174; Revolu- 
tion, 36; War of 1812, 58; 
ships captured, 50, 62, 63, 64, 
65 

Aquarium, the, 153, 154, 155, 
156 

Assembly, General, 25, 32, 36, 
45, 50, 51, 52, 58, 59 

Assembly, House of, 204, 205, 
210, 211 

Bahamas, 34 

Bailey's Bay, 164 

Bermuda and Panama Canal, 
227, 228, 229 

Bermuda, area of, 104; dis- 
covery of, 6; early names 
for, 7, 8, 21; settlement of, 
21; under the Crown, 32 

Bermuda Company, 23, 24, 26, 
28, 30, 31 

Bermuda Hundred, 23 

Bermudez, Juan de, 7, 21 

Blackburn, Dr. Luke P., 97, 

99, 100 

Blockade, 72, 73; captains, 
88, 89, 90; cargoes, 85, 90, 
93; runners, 75, 76, 80, 81, 
83, 84, 85, 86, 87, 88, 90, 94, 

100, 101; wages, 77 
Boer prisoners, 157 
Braine, John C, 95, 96, 97 
Browne, Gov. William, 58, 59, 

60. 172 



Bruere, Gov. George, 51, 52 
Bruere, Gov. George J., 44, 46, 

50, 51 
Buildings Bay, 16, 177 
Butler, Governor, 19, 20, 170, 

182 



Camelo, Hernando, 8, 9 

Carter, Christopher, 16, 22, 184 

Castle Harbour, 50, 181 

Cathedral Rocks, 139 

Cathedral, the, 147, 148 

Causeway, the, 168 

Caves, 157, 163, 164, 165. 166, 
167, 168 

Chard, Edward, 22 

Climate, 106, 107 

Cooke, Gov. (of Rhode Island), 
38, 40, 43, 48 

Colonial Parliament, 204, 209 

Colonists in Rebellion, 29 

Confederate agents, 83, 85 

Confederate flag saluted, 91, 
92 

Convict service, 69, 70 

Council, executive, 210; legis- 
lative, 204, 210, 211 

Cruisers, Confederate, 73, 78, 
91, 92, 93; federal, 73, 74, 
75, 78, 79, 80, 81, 91 



De La Ware, Lord, 13. 19 
Deliverance, the, 17 
Devil's Hole, 161, 162 
Diversions, 185 
Dockyard, 105, 136. 



Education, 222 



238 



INDEX 



Fishing, 199 
Flatt's Village, 160 
Flora, 111, 112 

Gates, Sir Thomas, 13, 16, 18 
Gibb's Hill Lighthouse, 139, 

140 
Government Hill, 44, 175 
Government House, 151, 152 
Government, method of, 204 
Great Sound, 105, 145, 151, 

153, 157 
Gulf Stream, I, 8, 106 

Hamilton, City of, 76, 101, 
105, 136, 143, 144, 145, 146, 
147, 148, 149, 150, 151, 152, 
153, 154, 155, 156, 157, 169 

Hancock, John, 52 

Harrington Sound, 161 

Hog money, 15 

Hogs, wild, 10, 15 

Hotels, 233, 234 

Houses, 113, 114, 115 

Howells, Wilham Dean, 132, 
133, 134 

Irving, Washington, 22, 116, 
117 

Islands: Agar's, 153, 154, 155; 
Boaz, 69, 135, 136; Castle, 
181, 182, 183; Coney, 24; 
Cooper's, 24, 183, 184; Cross, 
137, 138; Great Sound, 157; 
Ireland, 69, 104, 135, 136, 
137, 138; Longbird, 24; 
Main, 24, 133; Nonsuch, 
24, 99, 183; number of, 
108; Smith's, 22, 24, 178; 
Somerset, 135, 138, 139; 
St. David's, 24, 105, 178, 
179; Watford, 135, 136 

Islands, geographical position 
of, 2, 106, 227, 228; origm 



Jamestown, 18, 19 
Jordan, Silvanus, 12, 117 
Judicial system, 214 



Kings, the three, 22, 116 
Kipling, Rudyard, 119, 120 

Lafayette, Marquis de, 53 
Lefroy, Gov., 12, 21, 23, 25, 

27, 117, 118 
Legislature, 37, 71, 209, 211, 

216 
Literary associations, 116 

Mangrove Bay, 45, 138 
Marvel, Andrew, I, 123, 124 
May, Henry, 9, 10 
Moore, Gov. Richard, 21, 22, 

23, 170, 182, 183 
Moore, Thomas, 124, 125, 126, 

127, 128, 129, 130 
Morris, Robert, 41 
Museum, Natural History, 149 

Nassau, 76, 84, 94, 100 
Naval tanks, 44, 177 
Newport, Capt., 13, 18 
New York, 1, 3, 97, 98 
Newspapers, 59, 146 
North Rock, 44 
Norwood's survey, 24 

Ord, Capt. George, 45, 46, 47, 

138, 175, 177 
Ord, Gov. H. St. G., 78, 79, 

81, 82 
Oviedo, Gonzales Ferdinando 

d', 7 

Parish churches, 139, 141, 142, 
143, 152, 158, 159, 164, 170, 
171, 175 

Parishes: Devonshire, 24, 158; 
Hamilton, 24, 160; Paget, 
25, 143; Pembroke, 24, 144; 
Sandys, 25, 138; Smith's, 
8, 24, 158; Southampton, 
25, 139; Warwick, 25, 142 

Patience, the, 17 

Population, 204 

Powder episode, 38, 39, 40, 
41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 
175. 176 



INDEX 



239 



Privateers, 35, 49, 50, 51, 60, 

61, 62 
Prospect, 152 
Public buildings, 149 
Public gardens; St. George's, 

11, 175; Paget. 144 

Quarries, 113 

Raynal, Abbe, 53, 54, 55, 56 

Religion, 28, 29, 213, 214 
Reid, Gov. William, 69 
Resources, 217 
Revenue, 208, 209 
Roads, 112, 113, 135, 136 
Roanoke, burning of the, 96 

Salt trade, 32, 33, 34 

Sand hills, 143, 144 

Scenery, 110, 111, 112, 113 

Sea gardens, 108, 109, 181 

Sea Venture, the, 11, 12, 13, 

15,18 
Sessions House, 149 
Shakespeare's "Tempest," 116, 

117, 118, 119, 120 
Shipping industry, 32, 60, 61, 

66,67 
Slavery, 30, 67, 68, 69 
Smith, John, 12, 23, 183 
Social conditions, 28, 29, 30, 31 
Somers, Capt. Matthew, 19, 21, 

22 
Somers, Sir George, 11, 12, 13, 
14, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 116, 
117, 118, 119, 175, 177 
Spanish Point, 120, 137, 138, 

151 
Spanish Rock, 8, 9, 159 
St. David's Lighthouse, 180, 181 
Steamship lines, 231 
St. George's, 11, 14, 19, 22, 24, 
44, 45, 69, 73, 76, 80, 94, 95, 
98, 100, 101, 104, 105, 127, 
133, 168, 169, 170, 171, 172, 
173, 174, 175, 176, 177, 178, 
228, 229, 230 



St. Peter's Church, 170, 171, 

172, 173 
Strachy, William, 12, 13, 14, 

17, 117, 118 

Tabs, Father John B., 134 
Tourists, 147, 225; facts for, 

231 
Town Cut Channel, 16, 177 
Treasure trove, 137, 138, 183, 

184 
Trollope, Anthony, 130, 131, 

132 
Tucker, Gov. Daniell, 24 
Tucker's Town, 159, 160, 162 
Turk's Island, 32, 33, 34 
Twam, Mark, 114, 132, 133, 

144, 145 

Victoria Park, 150 
Virginia, 11, 12, 15, 18, 19 
Virginia Company, 21, 23 

Waller, Edmund, 54, 120, 

121, 122 
Walsingham, 162, 163, 164 
Warner, Charles Dudley, 132, 

133 
Washington, George, 38, 39, 

40, 41 42, 43, 48 
Waters, Edward, 16, 22 
Whipple, Capt. Abraham, 40, 

42, 43, 44, 48 
Wilkes, Admiral Charles, 78, 

79, 80, 81, 82 
Wilkinson, Capt. John, 90, 92, 

93 94 134 
Wilmin^on, N. C, 84, 86, 93, 

94, 100 
Witchcraft, 30 

Yachting, 189 

Yellow fever clothing episode, 
98,99 



LIBRARY 




